02 - 03 FEVRIER 2013 NEWS: Kaminoa - Jingeuneul - Pamirs Plateau - Cholula - Mâcon - Cleethorpes - Leicester -
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JAPON 
Kaminoa / COREE DU SUD – Jingeuneul – - Two recent events suggest that the Northern Japanese may have had some sort of trade relations with Koreans as early as the stone age, and that they have pronounced several kanji characters similarly. Archaeologists have discovered a couple of stone tools with a tanged point resembling a hunting knife used some 20,000 to 25,000 years ago, one in the Kaminoa ruins in Shinjo, Yamagata Prefecture, and the other at the Jingeuneul site near Gwangju, South Korea. Similarly, researchers in Tokyo, working with their Korean counterparts, discovered kanji characters, believed to have been unique to Japan, written on an old wooden plate were also found in wooden strips in South Korea. Many other similar tools have been found mostly in Kyushu, the main Japanese island nearest the Korean Peninsula. Some believed that this was because Kyushu was much closer to Korea in ancient times than it is now. While Masao Anbiru, professor of East Asia in the Old Stone Age at Meiji University, believes that big numbers of Koreans might have migrated to Japan, Toshio Yanagida, director at the Tohoku University Museum, said that while the tanged points do not make that direct conclusion, they at least show that there was some sort of exchanges made between the two. Meanwhile, researchers at the National Museum of Japanese History in Tokyo showed that letters on wooden strips found in South Korea indicated that Baekje, a kingdom that existed from the fourth to the seventh century, had a similar arrangement to Japan in terms of charging interest payments for rice loans. Also appearing in a wooden plate dating to mid-seventh century Baekje is the kanji “ru,” pronounced similarly in Japan and ancient Korea. “The same kanji was assigned the same sound because Japan and Baekje might have shared part of their cultures,” according to Minami Hirakawa, director-general at the Museum.
CHINE – 
Pamirs Plateau - A 1,300-year-old unidentified cluster of 102 tombs, 40 per cent of which were made for infants, have been unearthed in China's restive westernmost province. The tombs, found on the Pamirs Plateau in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, contain wooden caskets with desiccated corpses, as well as stoneware, pottery and copper ware believed to have been buried as sacrificial items, said Ai Tao from the Xinjiang Archaeological Institute. "The cluster covers an area of 1,500 square meters on a 20-meter-high cliff, an unusual location for tombs," Ai told state-run Xinhua news agency. He added that his team was also very surprised to find such a large number of infant corpses. But further research is needed to determine why so many people from that tribe died young. Archaeologists said they have also unearthed a large number of well-preserved utensils made from gourds, some of which were placed inside the caskets. "The burial custom is the first of its kind to be found in Xinjiang," said Ai. It is believed that the cluster dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). At that time, economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West flourished via the ancient Silk Road. "The shape of the felt-covered caskets show that sinic culture had a great influence on the lives of local people's some 1,300 years ago," said Yu Zhiyong, head of the Xinjiang Archaeological Institute. The tomb cluster was discovered amid the construction of a local hydropower project last year. Kezilesu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture was an important pass on the ancient Silk Road.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/1300yearold-tomb-cluster-discovered-in-china/1068015/#
MEXIQUE – 
Cholula - Dans son édition en ligne du 25 janvier 2013, le quotidien mexicain El Universal publie un article de Xochitl Rangel qui fait le point sur les fouilles de sauvetage en cours dans le centre de San Andrés Cholula, dans l'état de Puebla. Cependant les informations proposées par la journaliste semblent anachroniques. C'est ainsi qu'on apprend que des restes humains appartenant apparemment à la culture olmèque ont été datés vers 1200 de notre ère, correspondant au Postclassique. Malheureusement la chronologie généralement admise établit que la culture olmèque s'est développé pendant le Préclassique moyen, soit entre 1200 et 400 avant notre ère. On pourrait penser dès lors que l'auteur de ce papier ait confondu les Olmèques et les Olmecas-Xilanca. Cette culture a notamment connu son heure de gloire entre 800 et 1000 de notre ère. Dès lors, quels éléments archéologiques, culturels et scientifiques permettent de telles affirmations ? Pour l'instant, il est établi qu'il s'agit d'un homme âgé d'environ 35 ans. Ses jambes étaient fléchies. L'archéologue Ashuni Romero Butron, collaboratrice de l'INAH Puebla, est cependant restée très discrète sur le contenu complet de la découverte faite la semaine dernière. Il faudra très probablement attendre un communiqué des archéologues de l'INAH Puebla pour en savoir plus.
http://mexiqueancien.blogspot.fr/
FRANCE – 
Mâcon - L’Institut national de recherche archéologique préventive a effectué, de lundi à jeudi, un diagnostic archéologique rue Rambuteau. Cette zone hors des remparts, en limite d’une ville qui allait jusqu’à la voie ferrée, est sensible. Sur des secteurs voisins, on a trouvé pas mal de choses. Ici pas de tombes, mais des vestiges à deux mètres de la surface qui témoignent d’une présence humaine de – 100 avant JC à plus 200 de notre ère. Les murs d’une habitation ont été mis au jour, ainsi qu’une canalisation en pierre de belle facture. Les habitants devaient avoir quelques moyens car leur maison, qui a brûlé, était couverte de tuiles. Dans la coupe stratigraphique du terrain, on peut voir des traces d’enduits qui recouvraient les murs. Côté sud, on a trouvé de l’habitat et au nord des cours, des jardins et des terrains vagues. Au II e siècle, une période d’insécurité a conduit les habitants à se réfugier dans le Mâcon intra-muros. Les terrains de la rue Rambuteau sont retournés à la culture. On attendra la fin du XVIII e siècle pour que s’élèvent des maisons le long de la rue Rambuteau, puis le début du XIX e pour que l’intérieur de la parcelle fouillée soit construit. Ce sondage de diagnostic, s’il a été fort intéressant, ne devrait cependant pas entraîner une fouille plus poussée.
http://www.lejsl.com/edition-de-macon/2013/02/02/sur-les-traces-de-nos-ancetres
ROYAUME UNI – 
Cleethorpes – Archaeologists are awaiting scientific test results on the frozen forest which has been preserved on Cleethorpes coast for thousands of years. North East Lincolnshire Council confirmed the results of radiocarbon dating of the wood will arrive early this year, determining the exact date of when the trees grew. They have also done palaeo-environmental analysis of the peat layers. Starting at the toe of the Wonderland groyne, the stumps of a sunken forest stretch the length of the coastal plain. The stumps are believed to date back to 2,000 BC, suggesting the resort's golden sands were once home to rich green oak, birch and alder. The forest, of which only stumps remain, fascinates local historians not just because it shows a dramatic change in climate and landscape, but because tools relating back to the New Stone and Bronze Age have been discovered there. The council's archaeologist, Hugh Winfield, said: "Since glaciation, the sea levels have risen and fallen as the climate has changed over millions of years. "At various times in the past, the conditions were right for forests to form, where we now have salt marsh. There is evidence that people lived there from the New Stone Age to the Bronze Age as different artefacts have been found. Evidence suggests people lived in the area after the woodlands died."
http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Unearthing-secrets-frozen-forest/story-18031084-detail/story.html
ROYAUME UNI – Leicester - Has Britain's lost king been found? On Monday, scientists will announce the results of tests conducted to determine whether a battle-scarred skeleton found under a municipal parking lot in central England belongs to 15th-century King Richard III, the last British monarch to die in combat. The University of Leicester, which is leading the search, refuses to speculate on what the announcement will say. But archaeologists, historians and local tourism officials are all hoping for confirmation that the monarch's long-lost remains have been located.
http://phys.org/news/2013-02-scientists-reveal-result-richard-iii.html