10 JANVIER 2014 NEWS: Chiclayo - Hyvikkälä - Aigai - Davie -

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PEROU –  Chiclayo - Workers involved in the Olmos irrigation project in northern Peru have discovered 35 tombs that are believed to be 800 to 1,000 years old, according to daily El Comercio. The tombs were found near Chiclayo in the Lambayeque region just after Christmas, when workers led by an archaeological service company were finishing work on an earlier discovery made along the route of the irrigation pipeline. The tombs belong to the Sican culture, which lived on Peru’s north coast from AD 750-1375.  The individuals buried in the tombs were accompanied by offerings that included ceramics and textiles, as well as metal pieces with gold-plated copper. In August last year, workers on the same stretch of the huge Olmos project uncovered 12 boot-shaped tombs, near the archaeological site of La Huaca.

http://www.peruviantimes.com/10/work-on-olmos-project-turns-up-ancient-sican-cemetery/21156/

FINLANDE –  Hyvikkälä- Finland’s National Board of Antiquities has completed preliminary investigations into the remains discovered last November in what is thought to be a medieval grave. Researchers have performed tomographic scans on the so-called ancient swordsman, which involve imaging through sections of the skull. The scans show that the man may have met a violent end, said researcher Simo Vanhatalo of the National Board of Antiquities. The investigations found evidence of two skull injuries, one of which may have been fatal. “The deceased had a small incision at the back of the skull, which may have been caused by some kind of sharp object, but the wound later healed. Behind the ear there is a round hole which looks like it was inflicted by a spiked object. However this is still to be confirmed,” Vanhatalo noted. “Naturally we would immediately wonder if the man was the victim of violence or if he died in battle,” he added. Researchers speculate that a violent demise might also suggest that the swordsman was extremely fit while he lived. “The teeth are in very good condition and there is a high level of calcium left in the skull. In other words, the deceased was well fed. More in-depth research will then reveal whether he had any diseases or other health issues. It could well be that the deceased really was a swordsman and had been in battle,” Vanhatalo said, adding that the swordsman’s well-nourished body indicates that he was a wealthy individual. Vanhatalo noted that the structure of the man’s skull might also allow researchers to work out his features and reconstruct what he might have looked like.Researchers will complete carbon dating tests on the items found in the swordsman’s grave, allowing them to more precisely estimate when he died, and possibly his age.,Some bone samples have been sent for carbon dating. Carbon fragments found near the face have also been studied. The swordsman, as he has come to be known, was found by hobbyists in the field in Hyvikkälä, in the Hämeenlinna region in early November. Swords found in the grave appear to be a rare historical find, and authorities originally speculated that the burial site dated back to the crusade era. “It’s very exciting when two different branches of science come together. In other words, when history and archaeology meet. We just need the patience to wait for the results of the dating tests. Another interesting link is the Christian burial method,” Vanhatalo added. ”I’m keen to find out whether this will be placed in first or the second (Swedish) crusades, which came to the Häme region. The first targeted southwest Finland. This find could shed light on how we can understand the events of the crusades in each region. That’s what I’d like to know,” the researcher concluded.

http://yle.fi/uutiset/finlands_1000-year_old_unknown_swordsman_may_have_met_a_violent_end/7016200

GRECE-  Aigai - The members of the Central Archaeological Council (KAS) in Greece unanimously agreed that the restoration of the ancient palace of Aigai, in the Greek prefecture of Macedonia, must go on in the best way possible, giving the “green light” to the materialization of an architectural study regarding mounting and restoring the palace’s main building. The reason  for the KAS members to proceed to this historic decision was double. On the one side, the monument is tremendously important from an archaeological point of view, being created for King Philip II by a genious architect (presumably Pytheos). On the other side, its vast size “urges you to reach for heights in certain points. Any visitor will miss the complete visual aesthetics of the building without (experiencing) the third dimension whenever this can be given and after technical structural problems are solved”, stated Lina Mendoni, Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, giving a certain direction to the study. The study was impressively presented by Angeliki Kottaridi, Head of the 17th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities and in charge, among others for all mounting, conservation and restoration works taking place in the necropolis and the palace of Aigai. Equally impressive were the images and information on the vast architectural complex, which, covering 12,500 sq. m., consists the largest and ( alongside the Parthenon) the most important building of Classical Greece.

http://www.archaiologia.gr/en/

USA –  Davie -She rested in peace for about 2,000 years until utility crews came shortly before Christmas to install a new waterline on Pine Island Road in Davie, Florida. That's when the fully intact skeleton of what is believed to be a Tequesta Indian woman was found -- perhaps the best-preserved remains of an ancient human uncovered in the past 40 years, authorities said Thursday. "It's either Tequesta or the member of a people that predates the Tequesta," said Bob Carr of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy in Davie. "It's unusually well preserved, considering it's been under a highway with thousands and thousands of cars going over it every day." The woman, about 5 feet tall and about 20 to 30 years old, will now be analyzed by state and local archaeological authorities and then reburied in about a month in a secret location, with Seminole and Miccosukee Indians conducting the ceremony. No artifacts were found with the skeleton, and it had no distinguishing marks to indicate how she died. "There's nothing in the bones to indicate trauma," Carr said. Three other intact skeletons were found in the same vicinity in the 1980s and another skeleton was found in a new development in far western Miramar about 12 years ago. The most recent one was the best preserved and among the oldest, Carr said. The age estimate was based on "context," as artifacts found earlier near the discovery site, including pottery shards, were determined to be at least 2,000 years old. "There was no carbon 14 dating or DNA testing, as the Florida tribes don't want any physical destruction of the bones," Carr said. In 2002, Carr discovered the foundation of a Tequesta Indian home estimated to be 1,000 years old in downtown Miami. Four more were found nearby last year.;;He and other archaeologists also have found Tequesta artifacts in Parkland in 2008; a major Tequesta settlement, dating back to 800 A.D., along Fort Lauderdale's New River in 2009; and bones up to 3,000 years old, believed to be those of members of the Jeaga tribe, along State Road A1A in Delray Beach in 2012.

VIDEO - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/tequesta-skeleton_n_4572659.html