11 JUILLET 2014 NEWS: Olonne - Horton in Ribblesdale - Marlborough - Edirne - Winterborne Kingston - Egypte -
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FRANCE – 
Olonne - Deux villages datant du Néolithique, soit il y a environ 6 000 ans, ont été mis au jour à Olonne-sur-Mer. Précisément aux Caltières, sur les hauteurs de la rivière Vertonne, dans l'arrière-pays de cette commune littorale voisine des Sables-d'Olonne. Le site avait été fouillé une première fois il y a deux ans, avant la réalisation du contournement de la ville, qui permet d'éviter le centre pour aller du sud vers Challans ou Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. « Un fossé entourant un village avait été repéré », rappelle Philippe Forré, l'un des trois archéologues qui sont récemment intervenus. Deux semaines de nouvelles recherches ont été effectuées, de fin juin à début juillet, par l'Institut national de recherches archéologiques. Placés côte à côte, les deux villages semblent assez importants. Lequel était le plus ancien ? Les archéologues se posent la question. De nombreux silex taillés ont été découverts. Mais aussi des restes de poteries, comme une anse de vase décorée : «Une chose assez rare. Son décor est typique d'un mode de vie assez avancé. » Selon les spécialistes, ces villages appartenaient sans doute à la culture Peu-Richard, une civilisation néolithique particulière aux Deux-Charentes. « On pense qu'ils se déplaçaient avec des boeufs domestiques, qu'ils avaient des chèvres, des moutons et des porcs. Ils chassaient le cerf. Ils taillaient beaucoup de pointes de flèches alors que paradoxalement ils chassaient peu. » Une voie a été mise au jour sur plusieurs centaines de mètres. « Selon les archéologues, il pourrait s'agir de la plus ancienne trouvée en France », assure la commune dans un communiqué. Le terrain est trop acide pour avoir conservé des os et des restes de maisons. « Mais nous avons retrouvé les traces d'un four, une cuisson sur des pierres chaudes ou à l'étouffée, selon la technique des fours polynésiens », détaille Philippe Forré. Les trois archéologues ont aussi trouvé des traces de palissades et de fossés. « Les maisons étaient en bois tressés avec de la terre. Des trous accueillaient les poteaux, comme des entrées de villages. De nouvelles fouilles doivent avoir lieu l'an prochain. À l'issue desquelles l'Inrap rendra ses travaux publics. D'ici là, le plan de ces deux villages pourrait être dessiné.
http://www.ouest-france.fr/deux-villages-de-6-000-ans-decouverts-olonne-2692737
ROYAUME UNI – 
Horton-in-Ribblesdale - Ingleborough Archaeology Group has received a grant to investigate a site that may be early medieval or monastic in date near Horton-in-Ribblesdale. The excavation found animal bone, teeth and lots of charcoal, all of which can be dated, as well as three iron objects.The project will run until April 2015 and full details can be found at ingleborougharchaeologygroup.org.uk
NOUVELLE ZELANDE - Marlborough - Archeological work done at land surrounding the Blenheim sewerage works before its upgrade shows the area was used after early Maori settlers left the Wairau Bar in the 13th century. In a report to the Marlborough District Council, archaeologists led by Otago University professor Richard Walter say the work done between 2011 and last year was "an excellent example of the potential value of salvage archaeology". "Taken alone, the data generated from this work is interesting and informative, but when evaluated against the wider archaeology of the region it will prove invaluable in constructing models of long-term settlement and adaptation in the region." Another excellent outcome of the programme was the protection of the zone alongside the Orua Canal to the east of the Orua Canal site excavations, the report says. "This area is almost certainly rich in archaeological material and will be an excellent site for a later investigation, should that be acceptable to landowners and iwi." The report said the archaeological work had built up a basic picture of land use in the area. In the north, the deposits were earlier and indicated some continuity of occupation of the lagoon zone following the abandonment of Wairau Bar. To the south, the excavations found semi-permanent but small-scale occupation postdating the northern settlement zone. "This all demonstrates that the Wairau wetlands were a significant locus for Maori occupation and exploitation from the earliest period of New Zealand settlement." The Blenheim sewerage upgrade was finished earlier this year, and included building new settling ponds in an area of wetlands and excavation for a new pipeline adjacent to the existing outfall. The report said that because of the potential for archaeological deposits to be affected by earthworks for the project, extensive archaeological involvement was required during its planning phases. The North Zone area excavated lies directly across the estuary from the boulder bank moa-hunter site known as Wairau Bar. It had previously been identified as containing archaeological material most likely related to the bar.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/10256920/Dig-opens-window-into-past
TURQUIE – 
Edirne - Edirne Palace, located next to the River Tunca in the western province of Edirne, is currently under restoration and will soon be opened to the public, along with its surrounding area. The palace was home to Fatih Sultan Mehmet and Süleyman the Magnificent during the glory years of the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman Empire took control of Edirne in 1361, they ordered for a palace to be constructed around the Selimiye Mosque. When this first palace did not meet the expectations of the sultan, the Edirne Palace was then constructed. There is little information available on the first palace, and the only detail historians know is that the first palace was ruined during the construction of Selimiye Mosque’s social complex and included in the land of Selimiye. The construction of the Edirne Palace started at the time of Murat II and ended during the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmet. Although Istanbul was the capital, the palace was seen as important symbol of the Ottoman Empire. Excavation works that have been continuing for six years in the area of the palace have so far unearthed the Ottoman era sewerage system, kitchen tools of the palace and the perfume bottles used by Hürrem Sultan. Now the plan is to take this area under protection and turn it into an ancient site.
ROYAUME UNI – Winterborne Kingston - It's becoming one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of recent times in this country.Students from Bournemouth University have been involved in a dig in the Dorset countryside near the village of Winterborne Kingston, which has so far uncovered a Roman villa, the skeletons of the people who lived there and hundreds of artefacts.
EGYPTE - 
Today, Christie’s auction house is supposed to put on sale the BC 2300 limestone statue of Sekhemka, inspector of scribes in the house of largesse, “one revered before the great god”. Until Al-Ahram Weekly went to print it was not known whether or not the international campaign launched to stop the sale of Sekhemka reached its goal. Egypt has taken all legal and diplomatic procedures to stop the sale and to return the ancient Egyptian statue to the homeland. The statue is 75 cm tall and depicts Sekhemka holding a roll of papyrus on which are listed a number of offerings. His wife Sit-Merit is found sitting at his feet. The statue went into the possession of the Northampton Museum in 1849 after the Ottoman sultan offered it to the museum at the end of the 18th century. Another story holds that the statue was acquired by the second Marquis of Northampton, Spencer Compton, during a trip to Egypt, after which his son offered it to the museum in the 19th century.
