04 DECEMBRE 2020 NEWS
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TURQUIE - 
Laodicea - Archaeologists have uncovered a priest head statue during an ongoing excavation and restoration work at the ancient city of Laodicea, in southwestern Turkey's Denizli. Thought to be at least 2,000 years old, the statue was unearthed at the Western Theater in the city, which is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List and dates back to 5500 B.C. Celal Şimşek, who is leading the excavation and restoration work in the ancient city, said: "There were 8 meters of rubble to the north of the fortification wall, which extends to the west of the theater stage and is considered to have been built in the early fifth century in Laodicea. During the removal of the rubble, which we believe was actually the remains of buildings destroyed in earthquakes, we uncovered this beautiful priest head statue." This sculpted head may have been a priest at a temple to Zeus, the chief deity of the city. Even though we haven't identified it yet, it is clear this portrait belongs to the head of a temple past his middle age," he added.
CHINE - Gaozhuang - An array of exquisite painted ceramics dating back to the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC–9 AD) was discovered in northwest China's Xixian New Area that may shed new light on the artistic sensibility and political evolution of the early years of the nation's imperial era.
Archeologists at the newly excavated site unearthed a large-scale cemetery housing many tombs that were mostly intact, although a number of them were raided centuries ago. So far, archeological workers have found nearly 300 artifacts at the site in Gaozhuang Town ranging from bronzeware to jade ornaments and boldly colored pottery. The pottery items, which are mostly ritual utensils, are covered in intricate patterns composed of fluid lines. They reveal early Chinese civilizations' understanding of mortality and the afterlife. "Some of the patterns are clearly meant to depict the clouds and haze of a realm beyond the human world. These must have been images formed in the human imagination. It will offer a glimpse of the earliest human efforts to comprehend death and mortality," said Shao Jing, an archeologist. On one item, archeologists can make out the Chinese characters "Xincheng," meaning "New Town," referring to a historical episode in which the ancient city of Xianyang was temporarily renamed during the early Western Han Dynasty.
GRECE – 
Ilia - Archaeologists excavating a site in Ilia, a region in the western Peloponnese, recently discovered eight ancient graves spanning from the second to the fourth century BC. The eight tombs discovered during digs in September of this year were located on the burial grounds of the ancient region of Elis, home to the city of Olympia. Notably, four rectangular grave sites, all lined with rocks, and three large funerary containers, called pithoi, were found at the site, as well as an individual coffin covered by ceramic tiles and a marble grave stele . Inside one of the pithoi, which were so large that they were often used as coffins themselves, archaeologists discovered an ornately decorated bronze urn, with its base.The urn features a floral design on its handles and lion heads fill the space between its handles and its rim. A bronze mirror with a relief was also found in the funerary container. These funerary objects found inside the pithos date it to around the late fourth to the early third century BC.
JAPON – 
Koga - A burial mound here dating to the late sixth to early seventh century has all the trappings to signify that someone important was buried at the site, with tentative evidence pointing to a connection to the Korean Peninsula. For starters, it is keyhole shaped, a design reserved for those of the very highest rank. Intriguingly, excavations at a burial offering pit close to the Funabaru tomb yielded remains of horse harnesses, another sign that someone who held an exulted position in life was laid to rest. Researchers were ecstatic at the discovery of an ornament decorated with jewel beetle wings that had adorned an ancient horse harness. It was the first time to discover a horse tack decorated with beetle wings. The ornament, about 10 centimeters wide and called "gyoyo," would have hung from the waist of a horse. A space between the heart-shaped gilt-bronze open-carved plate with botanical leaf patterns and the base iron plate is lined with about 20 jewel beetle wings.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13934643
FRANCE – 
Pègue - Depuis la fin août jusqu’à la mi-novembre 2020, une équipe d’archéologues de l’Inrap conduit une fouille archéologique au Pègue. En 2013, les archéologues de l’Inrap ont réalisé une fouille 150 m plus au nord. Elle a permis de mettre au jour un quartier d’habitation et artisanal, dont deux ateliers de verriers datés entre le Ier et le IIIe siècle de notre ère. La fouille actuelle révèle un autre quartier de la ville du Ier au IIIe siècle à vocation résidentielle et artisanale. Avec plus de 1000 m2, cette domus (maison urbaine luxueuse) n’a pas été perçue dans son intégralité. Au sud de l’emprise fouillée, quelques fosses et un caniveau laissent supposer que l’espace est dédié à un jardin en bordure du ruisseau à une soixantaine de mètres en contrebas. Un portique délimite l’espace extérieur et dessert l’espace bâti. L’habitat compte une vingtaine d’espaces distincts (cour, couloir, pièces à vivre, espaces dédiés aux activités domestiques) qui s’articule autour d’un aménagement quadrangulaire longé sur au moins trois côtés par une galerie. La plupart des pièces couvertes ont un sol en terre battue hormis deux pièces qui comportent un sol construit en dur aux dimensions imposantes. La plus grande pièce couvre une surface de 70 m2. Elle est ornée d’enduits peints rouges tandis que le sol comporte une mosaïque. Ce pavement est constitué de tesselles cubiques polychromes : jaune, rouge, vert, noir et blanc. Le décor central correspond à une succession de carrés d’un mètre de côté dans lequel s’inscrivent des décors géométriques séparés par une tresse. Cet ensemble est cerné par une bande blanche qui compte quelques feuilles vertes disséminées sur le pourtour. Connue de tout le village, cette mosaïque a été mise au jour à maintes reprises depuis le XIXe siècle ! Dans la partie nord, probablement en façade, quatre espaces sont dévolus à l’activité métallurgique. Plusieurs structures foyères et fosses témoignent d’un travail du fer et du bronze. L’eau est un élément essentiel non seulement pour l’habitat résidentiel mais aussi pour exercer l’activité artisanale. Ainsi, plusieurs acheminements et évacuations d’eau ont été mis en évidence. Une installation réalisée en tegulae et imbrices ainsi qu’un caniveau en moellons et dalles calcaire attestent de l’évacuation des eaux usées vers l’espace extérieur. Enfin une canalisation, probablement en bois, matérialisée par une succession de dix frettes métalliques témoigne de ces aménagements hydrauliques.
https://www.inrap.fr/une-domus-antique-au-pegue-drome-15383#
COLOMBIE – 
Serranía de la Lindosa - One of the world’s largest collections of prehistoric rock art has been discovered in the Amazonian rainforest. Hailed as “the Sistine Chapel of the ancients”, archaeologists have found tens of thousands of paintings of animals and humans created up to 12,500 years ago across cliff faces that stretch across nearly eight miles in Colombia. Their date is based partly on their depictions of now-extinct ice age animals, such as the mastodon, a prehistoric relative of the elephant that hasn’t roamed South America for at least 12,000 years. There are also images of the palaeolama, an extinct camelid, as well as giant sloths and ice age horses. These animals were all seen and painted by some of the very first humans ever to reach the Amazon. Their pictures give a glimpse into a lost, ancient civilisation. The site is in the Serranía de la Lindosa where, along with the Chiribiquete national park, other rock art had been found. The images include fish, turtles, lizards and birds, as well as people dancing and holding hands, among other scenes. One figure wears a mask resembling a bird with a beak.
SERBIE – 
Kostolac - Buried under a Serbian cornfield close to a coalmine, the well-preserved remains of a Roman legion’s headquarters are being excavated by archaeologists who say its rural location makes it unique. Covering an estimated 3,500 square meters, the headquarters - or principium - belonged to the VII Claudia Legion. Its location was deduced in the spring during a survey. The compound, which lies east of Belgrade and around one metre (3 ft) under the surface, had 40 rooms with heated walls, a treasury, a shrine, parade grounds and a fountain. Inside one room, archaeologists found 120 silver coins that “must have been lost during an emergency” such as an invasion or a natural disaster, said the principium’s lead archaeologist Nemanja Mrdjic. The VII Claudia Legion was active between 2nd and 5th centuries AD, and its walled camp and principium were separated from the rest of Viminacium, which had its own fortifications.