02 DECEMBRE 2016 NEWS: Starza della Regina - Chine -Séoul -
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ITALIE – 
Starza della Regina - Italian and Japanese archaeologists have found what could be the last villa of Rome's first emperor, Augustus (63 BC-14 AD). The ruins of the splendid abode lie at Starza della Regina, near the Naples hinterland town of Somma Vesuviana, on the slopes of Mt Vesuvius. A dig on the large villa has been going on for 14 years. On Wednesday the site was visited by Professor Satoshi Matsuyama of Tokyo's Imperial University, which has been funding the work since 2002, by archaeologist Antonio De Simone from Naples' Suor Orsola Benincasa University, and by archeaological superintendency official Mario Cesarano. "So far 2,500 square metres has been excavated," De Simone told ANSA, "and we expect to dig out as much again, at least". The latest discovery was a huge water tank, measuring 30 metres by 10. Archaeologists say the villa dates to the first decades of the second century AD, but the dig has unveiled statues that date back to before the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD. Even if it not the villa where Augustus died in 14 AD, they say, it is certainly a magnificent patrician villa from the early imperial era.
CHINE – 
- Art experts in Australia have found a rare paper banknote from the Ming Dynasty of Imperial China hidden inside an antique wooden sculpture that was being prepared for auction.The Chinese characters on the crumpled banknote show that it was issued in the third year of the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty — or 1371 in the Western calendar. The inscriptions also warn would-be counterfeiters that they face the penalty of death by beheading.The 645-year-old banknote was found hidden inside a wooden sculpture of the head of a “luohan,” a religious figure from Chinese Buddhism, that may once have stood in a family or public temple, said Paul Sumner, chief executive of Mossgreen’s Auctions in Melbourne, Australia, which discovered the note.
http://www.livescience.com/57026-ming-dynasty-banknote-found-inside-sculpture.html
COREE DU SUD – 
Seoul - An ancient tomb of the Baekje Dynasty was found in Seokchon-dong in Seoul. The tomb reportedly consists of the largest number of smaller stone mound tombs ever found in Korea as at least 10 individual stone mound tombs are located closely or connected to each other. Together with the tomb, the excavation team also found a site possibly used as a mortuary hall where the corpse was contained before the burial. The Seoul Baekje Museum said Tuesday that the excavation team has verified a historical site, where more than 10 stone mound tombs are located, between the existing tomb No. 1 and tomb No. 2. The excavation project stated October last year after some stone alignments and historical relics were unexpectedly discovered during an investigation on the cause of sinkhole in the district. These newly discovered stone mound tombs are all in rectangular form. The biggest single tomb measures 13 meters per side. The total width of individual tombs collected is 40 meters. This supports the hypothesis that the adjacent tomb No. 3 could be a collection of individual stone mound tombs as the length of one side of the tomb is 50 meters. It has been also verified previously that the southern and northern tombs of the tomb No. 1 are connected. The excavation team says that these stone mound tombs originate from the northern tomb and presumably expand to eastern, western and southern directions. The structure of tombs, which is a collection of smaller tombs, found in Seokchon-dong can also be commonly found in mud-covered tombs of the Mahan State or stone mound toms of the Goguryeo Dynasty. For the newly discovered tombs, the ground was dug up, mud was plastered and stones were stacked. The excavation team discovered as much as 3,000 historical relics, including gold earring, decorative ornament, earthenware, iron sickle, roof tile, glass marble and animal bone, in a space for ritual ceremony next to the tomb. Some archeology experts carefully suggest that the space was used as a mortuary hall after looking into the type of roof tiles. During the Baekje era, when king or queen passed away, the corpse was contained in a mortuary hall for two years and three months before the burial. Only one mortuary hall of the Baekje Dynasty has been discovered at remains at Mt. Jeongjisan in Gongju City in the South Chungcheong Province, which was built after the capital was moved from Seoul. In this context, it remains as a plausible theory that the Baekje Dynasty had a mortuary hall when its capital was located in the Seoul region. “Chances are high that this tomb belongs to royal families during the Hanseong Baekje era, considering the size of tombs and types of relics,” said the excavation team.