10 FEVRIER 2014 NEWS: Pichincha Volcano - Mons - Doha - Aktopraklık - Otago - ’El-Bayadh - Varna - Dakahliya -
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EQUATEUR – 
Pichincha Volcano - Archaeologists discovered a building from around 2,200 B.C. in an archaeological and ecological park in the Ecuadorian capital at the foot of Pichincha Volcano, sources at the excavations told Efe. “It is the most ancient archaeological find in Rumbipapa Park and in the city of Quito,” park supervisor Bernarda Icaza told Efe, adding that no identification or description has been made of the culture that lived in the area during the Formative Period when the building was constructed. Icaza noted that the find has “enormous” historical importance, because “it opens doors to further archaeological, historical and heritage research.” The excavation was started two years ago by archaeologist Angelo Constantine. After digging down three meters, the flooring of a small dwelling was found. Park guide Danny Villacis, who worked on the dig, told Efe that carbon dating was used to determine the age of the site, where traces of human feces and urine were found. Also found were scraps of human and animal bones from another period, presumably from a time after Pichincha Volcano erupted. Specifically, next to the building were also found traces of volcanic lava. “What destroyed this village was the eruption of Guagua Pichincha, and later the eruptions of Pululahua finished it off for good,” Villacis said. He said the discovery is singularly important because it shows “we are practically in our infancy” when it comes to studying historical subjects, and there is “still a lot of research to be done,” since many people refer to the Incas as their ancestors despite the fact that “thousands of years ago” there were already other people living here.
BELGIQUE – 
Mons - L'ex-refuge de l'abbaye de l'Olive à Mons est en pleine restauration. Le bâtiment de l'IDEA fait l'objet de fouilles préventives par la Région wallonne. Des fouilles qui ont mis au jour des décorations anciennes. Les spécialistes de l'Institut royal du patrimoine artistique les ont répertoriées pour analyse.
VIDEO = http://www.telemb.be/mons-decouverte-de-decorations-anciennes_d_11927.html
QATAR – 
Doha - Since December, archaeologists under the supervision of Faisal Al Naimi, Head of Archaeology Section, and Dr Ferhan Sakal, Head of Archaeological Operations, have been excavating the area between Souq Waqif and Qubib Mosque. The area is one of the oldest parts of the city, now designated by Qatar Rail for Doha Metro station. Important discoveries about the country’s history have been made through the findings already uncovered, from painted architectural elements to coins and pottery. First results show in many places up to two metres of occupation deposits and architectural remains. The thickness of the deposits is related to the duration and intensity of human occupation on the same spot. Findings include shards of porcelain and pottery, animal bones, and jewellery, providing precious information about the founders of Doha. Animal bones give clues about their diet and other findings tell about their daily life.A glass marble was maybe lost by playing children while a stash of coins was perhaps hidden in days of danger and a rare metal weight was maybe used by merchants to weigh precious pearls from the Arabian Gulf. Excavations continue until February 15 and discoveries will be studied by the team from QMA and UCL-Q over the coming months.
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/qatar/271856/a-successful-dig-into-doha-s-past
TURQUIE – 
Aktopraklık - The scattered pieces of a centuries-old female skull have been reassembled and a new face has been formed for it thanks to 3D technology. A scattered female skull, which was found during excavations in the Aktopraklık tumulus in the northwestern province of Bursa’s Akçalar district and determined to have been killed with torture, has been reassembled and its face has been constructed with 3D technology. Excavations have been carried out in the 8,500-year-old tumulus Male, female and child skeletons were found in the area three years ago and they were determined to have been killed with torture after being hogtied. Engineer Ali Boz, who carried out research-development work in the PAU Techno City, used 3D technology to make a new face. “Using the data of the Anatolian people’s face, we created the face on the bones. We can do it without damaging the materials. Historians say that the 8,000 year-old skeletons belong to the ancestors of those who immigrated to Europe. We can say that the woman, for whom we have constructed a new face, is one of the ancestors of Europeans,” Ali Boz said. Bora Boz added that the jawbone of the woman was wide, which was not normal. “Her jawbone was pretty wide for women’s standards. The head of the excavations told us that these people worked as basket makers, and their jaw was strong because they used their mouths while doing this. The three skeletons that we brought to Denizli were hogtied and tortured. Maybe these people were sacrificed. As well as anthropological works, DNA research also continues in the excavation area. We will continue working here. When they are finished, the faces will be displayed at the local archeopark,” he said.
NOUVELLE ZELANDE – 
Otago -The site of New Zealand’s first mission station and its first classroom has been revealed during two years of fieldwork and research led by University of Otago archaeologists, uncovering plentiful details about the daily lives of our first permanent European settlers.The Hohi Mission Station excavations took place in Kerikeri for three weeks in February 2012 and four weeks in Jan-Feb 2013. University of Otago Anthropology and Archaeology Associate Professor Ian Smith and Archaeology Honourary Research Fellow Dr Angela Middleton led the excavation team, supported by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the NZ Historic Places Trust (NZHPT). "We found the remains of what is likely to have been the house of early New Zealand missionary Thomas Kendall and his family, as well as artefacts like ceramic sherds, glass, a coin dating from 1806 bearing the profile of George III, and gunflints - evidence that muskets were present at the mission," Associate Professor Smith says. "We uncovered the site of New Zealand’s first school - a modest-sized classroom - and other features including a Maori-style whare," he says. "There were lots of slate pencils, and fragments of writing slates, and children’s toys." They shed light on New Zealand’s first permanent European settlement founded in 1814, and gave insights into what life was like for the Church Missionary Society missionaries and Maori at the time. The place where the Hohi mission stood from 1814 to 1832 has been abandoned since that time. In 1907 it became the Marsden Cross Historic Reserve.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/otago-archaeologists-excavate-first-school-and-mission/5/181042
ALGERIE - ’El-Bayadh- Une pièce archéologique datant de l’ère romaine vient d’être découverte dans la région d’El-Bayadh, a-t-on appris, hier, auprès de l’association "Ghezzal" pour la protection du patrimoine et la promotion du tourisme. Alertés dernièrement par un citoyen ayant mis à jour une pièce archéologique taillée dans la pierre, lors de la réalisation des fondations d’une construction, au lieudit "Khenag Azzir" (5 km au nord d’El-Bayadh), les responsables de l’association se sont rendus sur les lieux pour vérifier l’information, a indiqué le président de l’association. L’analyse préliminaire, par des archéologues, de la pièce archéologique découverte a permis de la faire remonter à 18 siècles, précisément à l’ère romaine, a déclaré Khaldi Laâredj. Les responsables du secteur de la culture ont confirmé cette découverte, précisant qu’il s’agit en effet d’une pièce archéologique de 80 cm de long, 70 cm de large et 15 cm d’épaisseur, portant des écritures remontant à l’ère romaine, a fait savoir le directeur de wilaya du secteur, Abdelmadjid Allouchi. Le ministère de la Culture a été aussitôt informé de cette découverte, afin de mener des expertises plus approfondies sur cette pièce archéologique et sur la signification des écritures qu’elle comporte, a ajouté le même responsable. Selon le président de l’association précitée, cette découverte est la première du genre, relative à l’ère romaine, à être faite dans la wilaya d’El-Bayadh réputée pour la diversité de ses gravures rupestres remontant à différentes ères.
http://www.depechedekabylie.com/cuture/134239-decouverte-de-pieces-archeologiques-a-el-bayadh.html
BULGARIE – 
Varna - The restoration of the complex of ancient Roman baths, the Roman Thermae in Bulgaria’s city of Varna will begin in March. The condition of the Roman Baths in Varna rapidly deteriorated in the winter of 2010, as Valentin Pletnyov, director of the Regional Historical Museum of Varna has warned. -
EGYPTE - Dakahliya - Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities says that one of its teams has found a cache of artefacts dating to roughly 600 BCE (Before Common Era) in a northern Nile Delta province of the country. Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim said in a statement on Sunday that the team found 43 amulets, a gold-plated mummy mask and nearly 600 small funerary statues inside a pharaonic cemetery in the northern Dakahliya province. Archaeologists also found a cartouche engraved with the name of King Psammeticus I, a pharaoh from the 26th dynasty, the statement said. According to the statement, one of the amulets is special because it depicts a trinity of three Ancient Egyptian gods - Amun, Horus and Nephthys. Head of Antiquities Ali Al-Asfar said that archaeologists also uncovered two other tombs in the area.
http://www.news24.com/Green/News/Egypt-team-hits-archaeology-jackpot-20140209?