08 MAI 2023 NEWS
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ANGLETERRE - 
Bidwell - Archaeologists have found a medieval gaming piece while excavating land near Houghton Regis. The Milton Keynes field team uncovered a medieval timber-framed building and ditches, where they found a large ‘tableman’ (gaming piece). The piece is almost 6cm in diameter and is made from the thick jawbone of a cow. The face is decorated with circles and a ring-and-dot design, around the edge, which Cotswold Archeology say is ‘attractive although not unusual’. Similar artefacts have been recovered in other areas, including Winchester, where the piece dated back to between the 11th and 13th centuries.
NORVEGE – 
Mjosa – In 2022; a tem announcement the discovery of a shipwreck In lake Mjosa. According to the press announcement at the time, the ship, named the Storfjord wreck, was suggested to date from the 14th century or possibly earlier, and could be Norway’s oldest known shipwreck. Sonar images showed the hull to be around 10-metres in length by 2.5 metres in width, and is situated on the lakebed at around 410 metres beneath the surface. From the design, it was suggested that the ship could be a clinker type construction, a traditional Norse boatbuilding method that overlapped the planks of the hull to reduce overall weight, and that the ship likely had a square sail comparable to those used by the Vikings. In May 2023, underwater archaeologists used a remote-controlled underwater vehicle (ROV) to film the wreck site, revealing the footage at NTNU during Ocean Week. The footage shows that parts of the hull are in situ protruding above the lakebed, which the researchers suggest are the remains of the upper strake, a longitudinal course of planking which runs from the ships stempost (at the bows) to the sternpost or transom (at the rear). The footage also shows that the strakes have no rowlocks, suggesting that the vessel was self-propelled instead of rowed. Dating the wreck from the footage is still inconclusive, however, it does give further support to the theory of the ship being a clinker-type construction.
ESPAGNE – 
La Peña de los Enamorados - Archaeologists in uncovered a previously overlooked tomb while investigating the formation of La Peña de los Enamorados, also known as the sleeping giant.The Antequera archaeological site in southern Spain is home to a number of ancient structures dating back to the third and fourth millennia BC, including the Menga, Viera, and El Romeral megaliths. According to a study that was published on April 15 in the journal Antiquity, the Antequera site contains both man-made and “natural monuments,” but is best known for its prehistoric megaliths.The “natural monuments” at the site include La Peña de los Enamorados, a stone “sleeping giant” that towers about 2,900 feet above the ground, researchers said. The Sleeping Giant had a 5000-year-old secret hidden in his chest: Piedras Blancas megalithic grave. The rectangular stone structure was built at least 5,000 years ago, according to the study. It was used for millennia in three distinct phases before being abandoned between 1950 and 1180 B.C. The tomb’s stone slabs were carefully arranged to coincide “with the summer solstice sunrise,” researchers said. Some of the “heavily engraved” slabs “appear to have been precisely placed to ‘funnel’ the light from the rising sun towards the back of the chamber at the summer solstice.” In Antequera, the oldest megaliths date back to 3,000 BC, and this rectangular stone tomb was built at the same time. Researchers believe that bodies were spread out on a sizable flat stone platform at the time ceramic offerings were left in the tomb. Later, the decomposing corpses were pushed off the stone platform and into the surrounding area, where the researchers discovered “40 teeth and 95 bones.” Furthermore, the archaeologists identified a “triangular, arrow-like stone” lodged into the floor, oriented in the direction of the rising sun. The Piedras Blancas tomb was renovated around 2500 B.C., and niches for two burials were added, according to the study. Researchers believe these were high-status individuals, most likely a man and a woman. It’s unclear whether they were buried simultaneously or over the course of a century. The tomb later “underwent another significant transformation,” according to researchers. Stones were placed at the entrance “as if to block or seal” it, and the bones of at least two children and three women were interred. According to the study, the tomb was abandoned and has remained untouched ever since.
CANADA – 
Mississauga- An archeological dig on a Mississauga residential property turned up evidence of an Indigenous settlement. An Indigenous ceramic sherd and lithics (chipped stone artifacts) were found at first. More digging revealed an “assemblage of Indigenous artifacts” and evidence of an “Indigenous Woodland habitation.” “The site dates to multiple periods of Indigenous occupation and is representative of the continual habitation of these lands by Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial.
https://www.insauga.com/evidence-of-an-indigenous-settlement-found-on-a-mississauga-property/
USA – 
Maryland - Experts unearth one of the first colonists. Adolescent boy could have been aboard one of the first ships to land in Maryland in March 1634. He was dumped in his grave with little ceremony. He had no coffin, no burial shroud and probably no family to mourn him. He had a broken right leg, and perhaps damaged ribs. His right arm was pulled awkwardly across his chest. And his left hand was clenched in a fist. He had a square jaw, stood about 5 feet tall and was around 15 years old. And when experts opened his nearly 400-year-old grave last week, they realized they were looking at one of Maryland’s first European settlers — and one of the first colonists in what would become the United States. Travis Parno, director of research and collections for Historic St. Mary’s City, said the young man could well have been aboard the Ark or the Dove, the ships that brought the first permanent White settlers to the shores of the St. Marys River in March 1634. Parno called the discovery “monumental. ”Bruwelheide said the structure of the face suggested the skeleton was European. His bone structure pointed to his youth. There were no nails indicating a coffin, she said, and the arrangement of his legs showed he had not been tightly wrapped in a shroud. The position of his right arm was a puzzle, Bruwelheide said. Perhaps he died facedown with the arm underneath his chest, and whoever buried him didn’t, or couldn’t, move the arm back to a normal position. The smaller bone in his lower right leg, the fibula, was broken. And the larger bone, the tibia, looked cracked or broken, she pointed out.Despite his age, he had probably made the weeks-long journey across the Atlantic by himself.“If he had family here, they would have buried him a little more ceremoniously,” Bruwelheide said. “So we can assume he had no family. He was a 15-year-old boy. A lot of ship crews at the time had cabin boys.” Or he could have been an indentured servant. The original 150 Maryland colonists included many English Catholics fleeing Protestant persecution. They bought from the local Yaocomico Indians the land for 30 miles around what is now St. Mary’s City, paying with axes, hoes, cloth and hatchets, according to letters written by a Jesuit priest, Father Andrew White, who was among the newcomers. St. Mary’s served as Maryland’s first capital and was home to its first State House, but the city was abandoned when the capital moved to Annapolis in the 1690s. The dig site today is in a meadow about the size of a football field. It is owned by Historic St. Mary’s City, a historic site and museum.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/05/03/american-colonists-maryland-skeleton/
POLOGNE – 
Lublin - Two ancient figurines depicting the Egyptian god Osiris and a bust of the Roman god Bacchus were found in the Opole district of Lublin, Poland. An extraordinary discovery was made at the beginning of May by Krzysztof Kozłowski, who, having obtained permission from the Lublin Voivodship Conservator, conducted a search for historical monuments in Kluczkowice (Opole district). The figurines he found, which at first glance resembled the images of a “pharaoh” and a “goddess”, were handed over to the Lublin conservation office. Lubelskie Voivodeship Conservatory of Monuments (LWKZ) Facebook post, “The find, so unusual in our area, raised doubts as to the authenticity of the artifacts (…). Thanks to cooperation with the National Museum in Lublin and scientists from the Faculty of Archeology of the University of Warsaw, it was possible to confirm that we are dealing with original objects from ancient Egypt and ancient Rome,” he wrote. Thanks to cooperation with the National Museum in Lublin and scientists from the Faculty of Archeology of the University of Warsaw, the ancient record of the finds was confirmed. Osiris was made in the 1st millennium BC and the bust of Bacchus – in the 1st century AD.Dr. Łukasz Miechowicz of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw determined that the artifacts are part of the Kleniewski family’s former collection, which was kept in the palace in Kluczkowice until World War II. The Osiris figurine was probably purchased for the collection by Maria Kleniewska during her stay in Egypt in 1904. At that time, she and her daughter spent 4 months in Cairo, which she writes about in her memoirs. “The bronze bust of the Roman god Bacchus was discovered around 1906 by Fr. Antoni Chotyński, chaplain of the Kleniewski family in Dratów (now Zagłoba/Wrzelów). They were found in a richly equipped grave of a deceased person from the Przeworsk culture”.
EGYPTE – 
Meir - In a press release, Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Archeology, announced the discoveries made at the Meir archaeological site in Qusiya (ancient Cusae). Meir functioned as an Old Kingdom–Middle Kingdom (c. 2300 – 1800 BC) cemetery for the nomarchs, mayors, and priests of the ancient city of Cusae, which was a cult center for the Egyptian deity Hathor. The cemetery boasts a collection of tombs hewn entirely from rock. Dr. Mustafa Waziri highlighted the site's importance during the Old and Middle Kingdoms as well as the Late Period (circa 660 - 330 BC). Among the fascinating finds, researchers uncovered prayers and supplications of the early saints' inscribed in black pencil on one of the building's walls, arranged in eight horizontal lines of Coptic script. Additionally, the presence of clay and straw shelves suggests they were likely used to store the monk's provisions and safeguard precious manuscripts, further illuminating the rich history of this intriguing site. Dr. Adel Akasha, head of the Central Administration of Central Egypt, has provided further insight into the discoveries at the archaeological site. He revealed that the unearthed building, situated in the upper region of the site, features a patio, multiple rooms, storage areas, and a fireplace. The excavations in the lower region uncovered numerous burials, some containing wooden coffin fragments, skeletons, and poorly preserved funerary furniture. Among these discoveries is a burial that belonged to a woman whose coffin was in a deteriorated state, with a mask, coffin pieces, and chest remnants remaining. Additionally, archaeologists found a diverse array of pottery, blue and black engagement beads, and two copper mirrors, offering a glimpse into the funerary customs and personal belongings of the ancient people.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/meir-burials-0018406
GRECE – 
A new version of how the face of the legendary Greek king and army leader Alexander the Great might have been in real life is presented by Royalty Now Studios on YouTube. Researchers have often employed modern technology and historical records to try and answer the question what Alexander’s true face might have looked like, also based on numerous surviving busts of the great Greek leader who was born in 356 b.C. and died in 323 b.C.. A fresco depicting a hunt scene at the tomb of Philip II, Alexander’s father, at the archaeological site of Aegae, is the only known surviving depiction of Alexander made during his lifetime, in the 330s b.C.. Also, contemporary coins and the famous Alexander Mosaic –a 1st century b.C. work unearthed in Pompeii- portray him with “a straight nose, a slightly protruding jaw, full lips and eyes deep set beneath a strongly pronounced forehead,” as Krzysztof Nawotka describes in his 2010 study, Alexander the Great, by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Although most of Alexander’s statues attribute the same facial features to the young king of Macedon, historians have been inconclusive about the color of his hair, as referrences from ancient historians are conflicting. The ancient historian Aelian (c. 175 – c. 235 AD), in his Varia Historia, describes Alexander’s hair color as blond “ξανθὴν“, that could also mean yellowish, reddish or brownish.
https://greekreporter.com/2023/05/07/alexander-the-great-face/
INDE – 
Barsu - The Geoglyphs of coastal Konkan belt of India - which figures in the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Centre - has come to focus in the wake of the ongoing protests at Barsu in the Rajapur tehsil against the proposed Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL). These Geoglyphs of Konkan are more than 10,000 to 12,000 years old - and are very significant to learn more about our past in this sub-continent. Of the 600 Geoglyphs, Barsu has 62 - and is the largest cluster in Konkan region. More than 600 figures arranged in the clusters are depicted in Kasheli, RundhyeTali, DevacheGothane, Barsu, Devi Hasol, Jambharun, Ukshi and Kudopi in southern Maharashtra and Pansaymol in Goa, are the most comprehensive, well-preserved and artistically distinct Geoglyphs evidencing a cultural legacy of 12000 years. The content, composition, scale, quality of imagery and artistic techniques not only provide an insight on the range of mainly faunal life, but also depict the increasing tendencies of depicting abstract and anthropogenic forms onto stone. Further, the Geoglyphs show increasing finesse of artistic skill and evolution of techniques of etching and scooping, that are fundamental to mastering rock art. As far as the Barsu site is concerned, one of them has a larger-than-life carving of a man and two tigers. The carving is spread over an area of 17.5 x 4.5 m. The man is shown standing between two figures of tigers leaping towards him. The human is four metres in height. The man is shown with stretched arms to keep these tigers at the bay. The tigers are stylised within a rectangular form shown with wide open mouths. Though attacking, they appear more or less static. Stylisation seems to have dominated over animism. The stripes on tigers are also composed by arrangement of horizontal and vertical lines forming rectangles and triangles in a stylised manner. In contrast to geometrical treatment of tigers, the human figure has a round head, , curved waistline and rounded feet. The chest is shown with geometrical abstract forms. The carvings are not much deeper than 2 inches, also the gap between the outer and inner line is 3-4 centimetre wide. Adjoining to the left side of human torso figures of a fish, a rabbit and a peacock are depicted. Depictions on the other side of the torso are eroded beyond recognition.
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/geoglyphs-of-konkan-come-to-focus-1216515.html