04 JUILLET 2017NEWS: Jiaojia - Dwarka - Lismore -
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CHINE – 
Jiaojia - Chinese archaeologists have found remains of 5000-year-old giants with height of over 1.8 metres from the ruins in China's eastern Shandong province. From 2016, archaeologists have been excavating the ruins of 104 houses, 205 graves and 20 sacrificial pits at Jiaojia village in Zhangqiu District, Jinan City. Measurements of bones from graves show the height of at least one man to have reached 1.9 meters with quite a few at 1.8 meters or taller. "This is just based on the bone structure. If he was a living person, his height would certainly exceed 1.9 meters," Fang Hui, head of Shandong University's school of history and culture said. The relics are from the Longshan Culture, a late Neolithic civilisation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, named after Mount Longshan in Zhangqiu."People had diverse and rich food resources and thus their physique changed," Fang was quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency. Millet was the major crop and people raised pigs, according to Fang. Pig bones and teeth were found in some graves. According to the findings, taller men were found in larger tombs, possibly because such people had a high status and were able to acquire better food. Shandong locals believe height to be one of their defining characteristics. Confucius (551-479 B.C.), a native of the region, was said to be about 1.9 meters tall. Official statistics back up the claim. In 2015, the average height of men aged 18 in Shandong was 1.753 meters, compared with a national average of 1.72 meters. Ruins of rows of houses in the area indicate that people lived quite comfortable lives, with separate bedrooms and kitchens, according to the excavations. Colourful pottery and jade articles have also been found, said Wang Fen, head of the Jiaojia excavation team. The area was believed to the political, economic and cultural center of northern Shandong 5,000 years ago. Ruins of ditches and clay embankments were also found. The Jiaojia ruins fill a cultural blank 4,500 to 5,000 years ago in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, said Wang Yongbo of the Shandong Provincial Institute of Archeology. Archaeologists found obvious damage to the head and leg bones of some of the bodies and to pottery and jade articles in six large tombs. The damage may have been done not long after the burials and may be due to power struggles among high-ranking people. Li Boqian, an archaeologist with Peking University, said the excavations showed Jiaojia in a transition phase, but proved the existence of ancient states 5,000 years ago in the basin of lower Yellow River. The range of the Jiaojia site has been enlarged from an initial 240,000 square meters to 1 sq km. Currently, only 2,000 square meters has been excavated. "Further study and excavation of the site is of great value to our understanding of the origin of culture in east China," said Zhou Xiaobo, deputy head of Shandong provincial bureau of cultural heritage.
INDE – Dwarka - The Hindus who believe in deity Krishna, have no doubt that the deity, with his tribe of Yadavs, travelled from Mathura in north India to build a new kingdom of gold in Dwarka at the western tip of the Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat. The devotees, some among them historians, believe that after Krishna's death a great flood washed away the city. The date of the event is not clear. But there seems to be some consensus that it could be 1500 BC. To find the truth of the city, the government is pressing into service underwater robots. The modern version of Dwarka is at the opening of the Gomti River on the Arabian Sea. The famous Dwarkadheesh temple is located there. The Department of Science and Technology is actively considering to entrust the mission to robotic vehicles that will go down into the sea near Dwarka to look for the fabled city and collect information. Excavations at Dwarka have been going on for some time now. Nearly a decade ago, the underwater archaeology wing of the Archaeological Survey of India discovered copper coins and fragments of granite structures. Dwarka clearly was once a port city, and finds mention in ancient Greek texts. In the process of the hope for discovery, the government also expects to test several technologies, such as underwater imaging, the mapping of the ocean floor with sonar waves, and dating of old stones and implements.
ROYAUME UNI – 
Lismore - Archaeologists are to return to Lismore to work on a major seat of religious power with experts believing the tiny island was as historically important as the isle Iona. The island, in Loch Linnhe, Argyll, was a centre of ritual and power for more than 1,000 years but few records of its important role survives. The island was home to a medieval cathedral, home of the Bishops of Argyll, which was built by Clan MacDougall in the 12th Century. It was also important centre for early Christianity with St Moluag settling on the island, a sacred place of the Picts, in the 6th Century. He founded a large religious community on Lismore and created 100 monasteries across Scotland as part of the first wave of Christian evangelists. While a contemporary of St Columba, widely regarded as the man who spread Christianity across Scotland from his abbey on Iona, the importance of St Moluag remains relatively unknown, said Dr Clare Ellis, of Argyll Archaeology, who is leading the dig later this month. St Moluag is said to have staked his claim to Lismore by cutting off his finger and throwing it onto the island as he raced St Columba to the shore in a boat. Dr Ellis, who is working with Dr Robert Hay, archivist at Lismore Gaelic Heritage Centre on the project, said it was ultimately hoped uncover the remains of St Moluag’s monastery. First, the project will focus on the remains of the medieval cathedral, considered to be one of the most important buildings of the era in the Western Isles but also one of the most poorly preserved. Several medieval features have survived although it is believed the nave and tower have been ruinous from the 16th century onwards with the site now neglected.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/secrets-of-scotland-s-second-iona-to-be-unearthed-1-4493768