11 JANVIER 2013 NEWS: Channerwick - Belfast - Mondragon - Hierapetra -
INSTITUT SUPERIEUR D'ANTHROPOLOGIE
INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ONLINE COURSES / COURS A DISTANCE
OPEN COURSE : FEBRUARY 2013
HRM 104 : INTRODUCTION TO INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
REGISTER NOW
ROYAUME UNI – Channerwick - 
Shetland’s pre-Christmas storms have revealed remains of an iron age building and a human skeleton believed to be 2,000 years old. Archaeologists said a structure was briefly exposed at Channerwick before being buried again by a rockfall over the festive period. Before it disappeared from view, police officers and archaeologists were able to investigate the site and take a bone sample for radiocarbon dating. Shetland Amenity Trust assistant archaeologist Chris Dyer said: “The skeleton, initially reported by a local resident, looked as if it were contemporary with the Iron Age remains. “The original burial now lies under several tons of fallen bank and the Iron Age structures have also disappeared from view.” County archaeologist Val Turner added that during the investigation she and freelance colleague Samantha Dennis discovered evidence of at least one, and possibly two other burials. Turner said that the force 10 easterly storms had damaged archaeological sites along the entire east coast of Shetland. In South Nesting as much as a metre has been lost of an Iron Age site at Gletness. And a Viking site above the beach at the Easting on Unst, originally excavated and consolidated by the Unst Archaeology Group and Glasgow University, has been partially lost to the sea. “We are fortunate to have a record of these sites as a result of earlier work but coastal erosion is an ever present feature of archaeology in Shetland,” she said.
http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/6156-storms-expose-iron-age-skeleton
ULSTER – 
Belfast - With a lack of obviously very old buildings, many people have for a long time assumed that Belfast is a young city. But a new book that has compiled findings from scores of little-known archaeological digs has revealed our capital city’s true history stretches back to 7000BC. The problem with Belfast, according to Queen’s University archaeologist Ruairí Ó Baoill, is that when people visit other towns, such as Carrickfergus, the history is immediately obvious with the castle and old town walls. “In Belfast, although there have been castles and defences, there is nothing surviving above ground older than 250 years, so it was very hard for people to get an idea that there was a settlement 800 years old in the centre of town,” he said. Archaeological digs uncovered finds such as flint tools which prove that there were settlements on the Belfast hills, Ormeau and a site close to today’s Belfast City Airport going back to around 7000BC in the Mesolithic age. However, it is Belfast’s medieval chapter and its three missing castles that really fascinate archaeologists. Medieval pottery was found during an excavation on the site where Woolworths used to stand during a dig in 2003, while later pottery was discovered during a dig of St Anne’s Square in 2006. St George’s Church on High Street may not be the oldest building in the city centre, but it is one of those that give us most clues about our past. The original church lies under the current building and was known as the Chapel of the Ford. Mr Ó Baoill said: “The Lagan was considerably wider at those times. For people trying to cross, it was quite a hazardous affair and people would give alms for safe crossing. There was a church mentioned in a document of 1306, so we think there was a church there from the medieval period. “Underneath the present church is the medieval Chapel of the Ford which was one of the principal medieval buildings of Belfast.” That crossing point of the Lagan became the hub for the first city centre. However, nothing remains above ground of this medieval town. Mr Ó Baoill said finding the remains of any of the three castles which once stood in the city centre is the holy grail for local archaeologists. He said there was a medieval castle mentioned in 1262 which was destroyed along with the whole settlement in 1333 during a civil war between the Earl of Ulster and his barons. The second castle was built by the O’Neills in the 15th century, before the third castle which was built by the founder of the Belfast we know today, Sir Arthur Chichester, in the early 17th century. Mr Ó Baoill said: “There are no remains at street level, but we know roughly where they are. It’s the holy grail of archaeologists that we might get the chance to dig if there was development in and around Castle Lane and Castle Place.”
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/headlines/digging-up-new-chapter-in-ulster-s-history-1-4671341
FRANCE – 
Mondragon - Un édifice actif du Ier au IVe siècles et des vestiges postérieurs mis au jour. Ce n'est certes pas la découverte archéologique du siècle. Il n'empêche que les vestiges exhumés sur le site d'une carrière de gravier entre Mondragon et Lamotte-du-Rhône éclairent d'un jour nouveau notre connaissance de l'habitat du début de l'ère chrétienne, jusqu'au milieu du moyen âge. L'histoire commence avec l'autorisation d'exploiter une carrière de gravier sur 150 hectares délivrée pour 30 ans à la société Pradier. Dans ce cadre, la société est tenue de faire un diagnostic archéologique, sous la férule de l'INRAP (Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives). Déjà, au début de l'exploitation, en 2010, plusieurs vestiges d'occupation humaine allant du Ie siècle avant l'ère chrétienne au milieu du moyen âge avaient été découverts. Outre les restes d'une ferme gallo-romaine probablement occupée du Ier au début du IVe siècle de l'ère chrétienne, les archéologues ont découvert une quinzaine de fosses silos creusées à même le sol, dans des limons tendres. Ces silos, destinés à entreposer des céréales, dateraient, eux, du haut moyen âge (VIIIe et IXe siècles). Une fois fermés hermétiquement, ils assuraient une excellente conservation des grains. Au-delà de la ferme gallo-romaine - classique de ce qu'on peut trouver dans la région en milieu rural - et des silos, dont on avait déjà vu trace ailleurs, c'est la situation géographique du site, très proche du Rhône, qui présente le plus d'intérêt. Un site qui, ces dernières décennies, a plusieurs fois été noyé sous des mètres d'eau à la suite de crues du fleuve. "On n'aurait jamais imaginé trouver aussi près du Rhône des vestiges si importants. C'est la première fois que cela arrive. Notre vision moderne consiste à dire que ce site est inondable et qu'il ne pouvait donc y avoir d'occupation humaine. C'est une idée fausse", explique Joël Meffre, responsable des opérations archéologique sur le site. Ce qui signifie, toujours selon Joël Meffre, que "le régime des inondations n'était pas le même aujourd'hui. À l'époque, il n'y avait pas, ou très peu d'inondations." Pour preuve, les trouvailles des archéologues n'étaient recouvertes que de 30 cm à 1 mètre de terre. "Ce qui démontre que, depuis ce temps-là, il y a eu très peu de sédiments déposés par le Rhône." Alors qu'est-ce qui aurait pu faire changer ce régime des crues ? "L'action de l'homme au fil du temps est largement responsable de la nature des débordements actuels", répond Joël Meffre. Alors qu'il était un fleuve à plusieurs bras, fortement végétalisé à ses abords - comme peut encore l'être aujourd'hui l'Islon Saint-Luc à Châteauneuf-du-Pape - le Rhône est par endroit devenu une sorte d'autoroute liquide, endiguée, privée de déversoir naturel et aux crues dévastatrices.
GRECE – 
Hierapetra - An excavation will take place at the site where the ancient theatre of Hierapetra is located, according to the geophysical survey and other indications. We owe the fullest up to this day description of the big theatre to the traveler Onorio Belli who in 1586 reports that the theatre was dug in a mound and that its scene was richly adorned with columns, entablatures and other decorative elements. Belli also marvels at the beautifully made capitals. In 1980 there has been a small scale rescue excavation at the site by the 24th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. Traces of Roman buildings have been detected, three statues and an inscription. A geophysical prospecting made in 2010 offered indications on the existence of an elliptical theatre, architectural structures and streets. In the context of the project “Excavating the ancient theatre of Hierapetra” deforestation, surface cleaning and localization of the theatre by trial incisions will take place. It will follow the excavation and the full revelation of the monument.
http://www.archaiologia.gr/en/blog/2013/01/11/excavating-the-ancient-theatre-of-hierapetra/