10 MAI 2023 NEWS
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INDE – 
Bandhavgarh Tiger – In a fascinating discovery, archaeologists conducting a survey at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh have unearthed relics and highly sophisticated water bodies denoting the level of skills and advancement the society had attained two millenniums ago. The survey that started on April 1 has also shown that the tiger reserve falls along a trade route used by the civilisation as eleven structures carved out from rocks to be used as shelters by traders were found. Besides this, a 1500-year-old rock painting and several man-made water bodies around 1500-2000 years old have also been found. Evidence collected from the excavation site suggests water bodies were renovated around a thousand years ago.The centuries-old painting is one of its kind discovery in the area, the report said. “The presence of the waterbodies built at a height and used for collecting rainwater suggests the habitation had a modern society,” An ASI official was quoted as saying in the report. “What’s unique about this rock art is that it was found in a rock-cut cave. Usually, such rock art is found in natural caves or overhangs,” he said. He said the findings have uncovered the level of sophistication that was present even thousands of years ago.
ALLEMAGNE – 
Aachen - A coin purchased by the Charlemagne Center in Aachen, Germany, bears the name of Queen Fastrada. This is the first known example of a queen being named on a Carolingian coin. The coin represents the first known example of a queen, indeed of any woman (other than the virgin Mary) being named on a Carolingian coin, and because the coin type was only introduced in 793 and Fastrada died in August 794, it can be very precisely dated. The dating of numismatic remains from the Carolingian period is difficult when it is not frankly conjectural. The coinage reflects both Charlemagne’s affection for Fastrada and the power he was willing to share with her. The third wife of the great Carolingian king Charlemagne, Fastrada played a critical role in her husband’s reign. She was born around 765, the daughter of powerful East Frankish Count Rudolph. In 783, only five months after the death of his second wife, Himiltrude, Charlemagne married her to cement an alliance with her father in his war against the Saxons. They would have two daughters over 11 years of marriage before Fastrada’s death in 794. Minted between 793 and 794, likely in Aachen, the coin is inscribed on the obverse side with +CARoLVSREXFR[ancorum], (‘Charles, king of the Franks’), and on the reverse +FASTRADA REGIN[a], (‘Queen Fastrada’), around the royal monogram of Charlemagne (KAROLVS). It is a silver denier of a type known as the monogram denier after the KAROLVS monogram.
https://arkeonews.net/a-coin-of-queen-fastrada-and-charlemagne-found-first-of-its-kind/
FRANCE –
Lure - La villa, connue depuis le XVIIIe siècle, a été en partie dégagée au cours de plusieurs opérations archéologiques menées dans les années 1970-80 sous l’actuel boulevard et dans les parcelles concomitantes à l’emprise de fouille. Dans le cadre de l’intervention de l’Inrap c’est l’angle sud-est de la villa, dédié à l'espace balnéaire qui est mis au jour : trois des espaces identifiés présentent des sols en mortier de tuileau, avec des empreintes de pilettes d’hypocauste, et des murs enduits à la chaux. Au moins deux praefurnia ont été constatés. Les thermes de la villa paraissent ainsi s’articuler autour d’une salle chaude, le caldarium, d’un tepidarium, la salle tiède, puis d’un frigidarium la salle froide. Un bassin d’eau froide (piscina) pourrait également faire partie du complexe, mais a été en grande partie démantelé. Les bains subissent ainsi de multiples remaniements au cours de leur utilisation. Une quatrième pièce est ajoutée au sud, les sols sont plusieurs fois rechapés et les pièces redimensionnées. Des fondations en galets mises au jour sous les murs existants pourraient correspondre à un bâtiment antérieur à l’installation des thermes. Enfin, les éléments architecturaux prélevés dans les niveaux de démolition ainsi que ceux trouvés durant les opérations archéologiques antérieures indiquent que la construction était d’une grande qualité avec des murs recouverts d’enduit peint polychrome et, par endroits, de placage bicolore associant schiste noir et marbre blanc de type Carrare. À proximité du site, la découverte d’une mosaïque sur hypocauste confirme la qualité architecturale de l’ensemble. À l’époque mérovingienne, une nécropole s’implante à l’emplacement des bains privés de la villa, en relation avec la présumée chapelle Saint Quentin (qui donne son nom au quartier) mais dont aucun vestige n’a pour l’instant été mis au jour. La tradition relate que les habitants de Lure et du village voisin de Magny-Vernois se faisaient enterrer autour de la chapelle jusqu’à la construction de l’église paroissiale Saint-Martin pour les Lurons en 1556 et jusqu’en 1603 pour les villageois de Magny-Vernois. Le cimetière a été déjà en grande partie fouillé par J.-L. Odouze et M. Py et plus d’une centaine de sépultures ont été recensées. Dans l’emprise de la fouille en cours, près de 40 individus viennent compléter les données des fouilles antérieures.
https://www.inrap.fr/une-villa-gallo-romaine-et-un-cimetiere-paroissial-lure-haute-saone-17215#
FRANCE – Avrillé - À Avrillé, près d’Angers (Maine-et-Loire), une équipe de l’Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap) a mis au jour, après un mois de fouilles, une portion de l’axe romain qui reliait Angers, appelée Juliomagus à l'époque romaine, à Rennes ou Condate, à l'époque. La voie, probablement construite par des prisonniers de guerre, servait à transporter des marchandises. Et permettait le déplacement rapide de troupes militaires. « Elle est attestée dès la période romaine, mais elle a perduré dans le paysage pendant au moins 1 800 ans. Elle a été utilisée à la période médiévale et pendant la période moderne », précise Frédéric Guérin, responsable des fouilles. Dans l’absolu, elle daterait du début du premier siècle de notre ère, mais elle pourrait cacher encore quelques secrets…
FRANCE –
Douvres-la-Délivrande - C’est un chantier pas comme les autres qui se déroule depuis début avril et jusqu’à la mi-septembre au nord de Caen, à Douvres-la-Délivrande. Il s’agit de rechercher des vestiges de l’époque gauloise et gallo-romaine. Sept à huit siècles d’histoire sont rassemblés sur les six hectares du projet. "Moi, j’étudie spécifiquement les établissements ruraux, c’est-à-dire les fermes de ces périodes anciennes" souligne Vincent Le Quellec, archéologue pour le Conseil départemental du Calvados et responsable de la fouille -quinze archéologues sont sous sa houlette-. Et les débuts sont prometteurs : "En l’espace de quinze jours, nous avons mis au jour plusieurs bâtiments, notamment de l’époque antique. Et puis les premiers objets sont au rendez-vous, comme une meule pour écraser le grain, un couteau ainsi qu’une sonnaille, une sorte de cloche ou clochette qu’on met au cou des animaux d’élevage, qui broutent l’herbe". Le site de Douvres-la-Délivrande est singulier dans la mesure où les archéologues ont rarement l’occasion de travailler sur d’aussi grandes surfaces et sur une période chronologique aussi étendue. "Huit siècles, ce n’est pas rien !". De quoi étudier l’évolution des fermes au cours du temps avec beaucoup d’objets associés, permettant ainsi des analyses fines sur le statut des habitants ou encore sur leurs habitudes alimentaires.
https://www.sweetfm.fr/des-vestiges-de-fermes-gauloises-et-antiques-a-douvres-la-delivrande
CROATIE – 
Korčula - Archaeologists have discovered the sunken ruins of a 7,000-year-old road that once linked an ancient artificial landmass to the Croatian island of Korčula. The submerged road, along with several other artifacts, belonged to a lost maritime culture known as the Hvar, who occupied this area during the Neolithic Era. Igor Borzić, a researcher at the Archaeology Department at the University of Zadar who was investigating sites on land, spotted “strange structures” at a depth of about 15 feet in the Bay of Gradina, on the western coast of Korčula, according to a statement from the university. Over the weekend, the university released new footage of the underwater passage, which was made of stacked stones and measured some 12 feet across. Flint blades, stone axes, and fragments of millstones were also recovered from the underwater ruins, according to the team. The artifacts shed light on the mysterious Hvar peoples, who settled on the islands and coasts of the northeast Adriatic Sea some 7,000 years ago. Many Hvar ruins and artifacts have been discovered underwater, including a settlement that was constructed on top of an artificially created island. The newly discovered road linked this island to the coast of Korčula, according to the statement. Hvar peoples also left behind ornaments and pottery, as well as evidence of subsistence farming and burial rituals. In addition to underwater surveys, archaeologists are also excavating ancient sites on land, including a cave in the nearby town of Vela Luka that has been occupied for at least 19,000 years by many different cultures, including the Hvar.
INDE – 
Bandhavgarh -Two Buddhist stupas have been found in the ongoing excavation. These stupas — one 15ft-high and the other 18ft — were used to contain the ashes of monastic heads. Besides these, Buddhist pillar fragments dating to the 2nd and 3rd centurie , quite similar to the Chaitya pillars of Bedase caves in Maharashtra, have also been found.
CHINE - Xingtai - A 502-year-old stele of an official has been discovered in China’s Hebei Province, local authorities yesterday said. Carved on a slab of bluestone, the stele dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was found in Zhaopai Village of Xingtai City. It stands at 130cm tall, 75cm wide, and 22cm thick. The stele was erected at the tomb of a local official named Zhao Siming. It bore 854 Chinese characters on one side detailing Zhao’s study and work experience, as well as the filial piety – one of the most important traditional moral tenets in China – shown by three generations of Zhao’s family, from his parents down to his son, which was then deemed as exemplary. On the other side of the stele was the lineage atlas of the Zhao family, who moved to Hebei from nearby Shanxi Province. According to Lan Jianhui, a local expert in culture and history, the stele was relatively well-preserved, and its discovery would be helpful for the study of politics, culture, history, and customs in the area during the mid-Ming Dynasty.
https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/centuries-old-stele-discovered-in-northern-china.html
CHINE - 
Lapchuk - "After 4 years of archaeological excavations, it has been confirmed that the ancient city of Lapchuk is a Nazhi city from the Tang Dynasty," said Xu Youcheng, assistant researcher at China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology. The ancient city of Lapçuk, located in the Bostan village of Karadöve town of Evirğol region, approximately 65 kilometers east of Kumul City, was declared as a nationally important cultural relic conservation unit in 2019. In 2019-2022, the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Artifacts and Archeology and Lanzhou University and Northwest University and the Dune Culture Museum formed an archeology team to conduct archaeological excavations of the ancient city ruins. According to historical records, in the fourth year of the Zhenguan period of the Tang dynasty of China (630 AD), Evirgol Province was established in Kumul, while 3 counties, including Nazhi, were made directly subordinate to Evirgol Province. Dating shows that the ancient city of Lapçuk was used during the early and middle periods of the Tang Dynasty. It continued to be used and repaired during the Uighur period of Idikut (Gaochang), which is basically consistent with the historical record. Xu Youcheng said, "Archaeological findings in many areas such as the urban layout, annexes and funeral traditions of the ancient city of Lapchuk show that this city is the only city that has the most compatibility with the Tang period Nazhi city in the Baiyang River Valley." To the west of the ancient city of Lapçuk, archaeological teams discovered the remains of a Buddhist temple. Xu Youcheng said, “There was a large-scale Buddhist temple here. While the temple is divided into two areas, there are relics such as Buddha halls, caves, monastery caves and pagoda. "The remains of other Buddhist temples discovered in Lapchuk and the Baiyang River Valley show the important position of Buddhism in people's lives at that time." On the high platform to the northwest of the ancient city, archaeologists also discovered more than 50 circular storage caves of varying sizes and depths, arranged in regular rows. In addition, daily use items such as clay pots, jars, bowls and trays were unearthed from the Tang Dynasty kiln area north of the ancient city. The discovery of the sloping tombs is an important achievement in the archaeological study of the ancient city of Lapçuk. These burials are a typical burial tradition in the Central Plains and were very popular in the Tang Dynasty. Xu Youcheng said: “While many sloping tombs have been found at Loulan (Kroren) to the south of the Turfan region and Dunhuang to the east, they have not previously been found only in Dune. The missing link regarding the extension of the inclined tomb style to the west has been completed in the archaeological studies on the Lapçuk cemetery.” While archaeologists said that the remains such as Tang period coins in the cemetery all convey clear chronological information and that the ancient city period lasted from the beginning to the middle of the Tang period, he argued that the ancient city of Lapçuk was effectively proven to be the city of Nazhi during the Tang period. Among the items unearthed from the Lapchuk cemetery are the Tang period Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, Wuzhu standard copper coins minted by Wudi, the emperor of the Han dynasty, hairpins, copper mirrors, as well as remains bearing the elements of Central Plains culture, as well as silver coins from the Sassanid Empire, copper earrings, rubies. There are currencies and goods that were popular in the Central Asian and Western Asian regions of the period, such as gold rings, glass evil eye beads and turquoises. In a series of archaeological expeditions, the view of the city of Nazhi became increasingly clear. Xu Youcheng said, “The city of Nazhi, which is the first major station west of Kumul city on the Old Silk Road, is also an important complementary point between Turfan and Kumul. This is an important region that enables citizens from East-West cultures and various ethnic groups to establish contact and mingle. I can say that during the Tang and Song dynasties, Nazhi was a city of considerable size, with thousands of people living in it.” he spoke Experts argue that the archaeological excavations at Lapchuk Ancient City offer a new perspective for studying Xinjiang's history and culture during the Tang and Song dynasties, as well as trade on the Silk Road. Archaeologists are also expected to carry out more archaeological excavations on the ruins of the ancient city of Lapçuk this year.
https://raillynews.com/2023/05/ancient-city-from-the-tang-dynasty-discovered-in-the-dune/