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NORVEGE – Stange - The Norwegian farmer says the 2,900-year-old skull was found by chance. There is no indication as to the cause of death for now. Archaeologists believe that the skull belonged to a man close to 20 years of age. At the same time, how the victim died currently remains a mystery. “We can’t be 100 per cent sure that he was sacrificed, but we are comparing the remains with other bog bodies found in Northern Europe,” Hedmark County archaeologist Kjetil Skare says to The Foreigner. “Bog acids in Norway are also of a different type than elsewhere. This means that we usually only find bones, in comparison to soft tissue in other parts. When it comes to other bog bodies, we’ve observed that the person was killed several times – such as by strangulation and slitting the throat.” Mr Skare and his colleagues also found the remains of a body of a woman a couple of months ago. According to him, this further strengthens the theory that the latest discovery is of a sacrificial victim. “They started to cremate people when they were buried during the last part of the Bronze Age in Norway (about 1100-500 BC) and in pre-Roman Iron Age times (4th-1st Century BC). It is not likely the remains we have discovered indicate a normal burial, because the body would have lain in a mound,” the expert says. “We can also rule out the accident theory, because we now have eight sets of remains from those Ages that have been found in Hedmark.”“One possibility is that it was a punishment,” explains Mr Skare. “Roman Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus (ca. 200-72 AD) wrote about Northern European tribes around the time of 0 BC having disposed of criminals in open lakes, killing the body in several ways.” All archaeologists currently have of the latest discovery is the back of the head and some side parts. There is little indicating other damage, but the facial bones are still missing.
http://theforeigner.no/pages/news/ancient-skull-discovered-in-eastern-norway/?
TURQUIE – Cappadoce - The roof of a 1,500-year-old church in the central Anatolian region of Cappadocia has begun to be restored before its collapse. Now, officials need resources for the restoration of the other parts of the Red Church (Kızıl Kilise), which was included in the 2008 World Monuments Watch. After St. Gregorius, who was one of the founders of Orthodoxy in the 4th century, returned to Güzelyurt, he spent the last days of his life on a farm in the area of the current Red Church. After his death, the Red Church was built in the 6th century, in 560, according to the carbon analysis results. The church has become one of the frequent worship places of Christians on their way to the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Red Church is one of the oldest churches on the vast plains of the Cappadocia region. It was built during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Unlike other churches in the region carved from volcanic rock, the church’s structure employs traditional masonry building methods and exemplifies the high quality of craftsmanship of the area at that time. The central dome, supported by an octagonal base, is the most prominent architectural element of the church, featuring various types of volcanic stone. Light illuminates the interior through windows located at the base of the building. Evidence of huge lintels and precisely cut granite blocks indicate that the church served as an imperial, or funerary, chapel.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/centuries-old-church-rescued-in-cappadocia.aspx?pageID=238&nID=67588&NewsCatID=375
ESPAGNE – Madrid - Researchers searching for the remains of Miguel de Cervantes in the church of the Trinitarian convent in Madrid have found five places where he could be buried, including the church crypt, where they will begin looking since it is the area most easily accessible. The study of the structure and subsoil of the church where Miguel de Cervantes was buried in 1616 was presented Monday to a crowded press conference. esides the crypt “of a much bigger size than expected,” Etxeberria said, another four spots containing bones have been detected in the church, but the researchers plan to begin with the crypt since of all five points, that will be the easiest place to make an analysis. Some 30 niches have been detected in the crypt, but in case Cervantes was not laid to rest in any of them, work will start on the next phase, which will include excavations in the nave of the church where double burials have been detected, a detail that Fernando de Prado told Efe is significant because the wife of the writer, Catalina de Salazar, was also buried in that church. The project was started last April 28 using infrared radiation and geophysical radar mapping of the Trinitarian nuns’ convent church, located in the historic Letras neighborhood of Madrid, and came up with a 3D map presented Monday that identifies the five places where the creator of “Don Quixote” could have been buried.
http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/spaniards-close-to-locating-the-cervantes-remains/30204/
GRECE – Athènes - The Agora of Athens is the birthplace of Democracy – the first place of expression of opinion, open to every citizen. Freedom of Speech, Equality of Speech, Equality before Law and Justice are just some of the ideas born in the Agora. In addition, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes and Pericles are some of the great personalities who lived and taught here. The Market in this ancient land, inspired these important figures and their vision for Democracy and Progress. The aim of the Leontida Foundation is to create a movement of citizens who will share the vision of the market and will finance the reconstruction and restoration of these ancient monuments of humanity. Based on information from recent archaeological research, we can now safely and accurately restore the entire Market. At the same time, the architectural restoration of the Market will turn the Agora into a cultural center (with theatrical performances, musical events, academic conferences, etc.) and a center of Democracy (centre for Democratic Studies, Institute of promotion and development of Democracy worldwide, etc.).
VIDEO = http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/06/10/support-the-restoration-of-the-ancient-agora-of-athens-video/?
POLOGNE – Szczecin - A meteorite found in the remains of a Neolithic hut in Bolkow, north west Poland, may have been used for shamanic purposes, academics have argued. The meteorite was discovered among a large group of sacral objects in a hut on the banks of Swidwie Lake in the West Pomeranian region. Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology in Szczecin found items including an amulet, a so-called 'magic staff' fashioned from antlers and decorated with geometrical motifs, and an engraved bone spear. They were made about 9000 years ago. The discovery of the meteorite, which is 8cm high and 5.3cm wide at the base, proved especially intriguing in this context. “The meteorite was brought to the hut as an object of special significance, because it came 'from another world,” Professor Tadeusz Galinski told the Polish Press Agency. “The item became an object in their belief system, and perhaps even a prop in the practice of shamanic magic,” he said. Archaeologists have been carrying out excavations at the site for several years now. The meteorite was discovered last year, but at first academics failed to identify it correctly.
http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/173402,Polish-meteorite-venerated-by-neolithic-man?