13 DECEMBRE 2016 NEWS: Elazığ - Kathmandou - Caistor - Khomeyn - Laulau Bay Saipan - Lolland - Kom El-Hettan - Sichuan -
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TURQUIE – 
Elazığ - Excavation works being conducted on the Kızıl Church, also known as the Virgin Mary Church, have unearthed a 165-year-old inscription. According to information released by Elazığ Municipality, continuing surveying and resto-ration project works on the 19th-century Kızıl Church have unearthed an Armenian inscrip-tion dating back to 1851 that measures 80 by 53 centimeters. Specialists are attempting to decipher the inscription, which will be taken under protec-tion at the Elazığ Museum before being placed back in the church after its restoration, the statement said. The excavation works have also unearthed pillars, column bases, entrance gates, vaults and a number of decorative elements.
NEPAL – 
Kathmandou - UNESCO has undertaken excavations at the Jagannath and Gopinath temples in the World Heritage Site of Kathmandu Durbar Square. The temples were damaged by the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake. Building on that earlier research, those excavations would provide evidence of the origins and development of these monuments and lead to new information that would safeguard those monuments for future generations
http://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/excavations-jagannath-gopinath-temples-begin/
ROYAUME UNI – 
Caistor St Edmund - The Roman town at Caistor St Edmund was up to three times larger than was previously thought, a new dig has revealed. It has long been known that the streets of the Roman town of Venta Icenorum extended beyond the defensive wall which can be seen at the site. But, in August this year, Caistor Roman Project, a community archaeology team formed in 2009, excavated a large trench on land about 300 metres from the town walls. The latest excavation has demonstrated clearly that the new section of the ditches is definitely of Roman date and that the Roman town was surrounded by concentric ditches, a mile and a half long, enclosing an area of nearly 89 acres – which is more than two and a half times the area of the walled Roman town. Dr Will Bowden, of the University of Nottingham, who has been directing research at Caistor Roman town for 10 years, said “This discovery dramatically changes the story of the Roman town and shows that community archaeology can contribute to discoveries of national importance.” The purpose of the ditches is not clear. Archaeologists say the perimeter is too large to have been used practically for defence and they question whether it was a “grand urban vision” which was never realised. Venta Icenorum was the capital of an area encompassing modern Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Recent major excavations by the University of Nottingham traced the life of the town from its origins in the 1st century AD to its eventual disappearance as an urban centre. Caistor is said to be unique among the greenfield capitals of Roman Britain in the extent of its Anglo-Saxon occupation, which indicates that it remained a centre of political importance long after the Roman period.
IRAN – 
Khomeyn - An Iranian archaeologist has discovered what he believes could be some of the oldest rock etchings on the planet. The markings, which have only been seen by a few people, were discovered by Dr Mohammed Naserifard among a rock formation outside the town of Khomeyn in western Iran. The professor believes etchings found at the top of an untouched hillside could be tens of thousands of years old. However, he says sanctions imposed by the US on Iranian scientists has made it difficult to access definitive data and the tools for analysis. Since 2002 Dr Naserifard claims to have discovered 50,000 ancient paintings and engravings during his journeys, which have taken him through a range of provinces. In 2008, archaeology experts from the Netherlands visited the area with Dr Naserifard and said a cluster of drawings made using cups could be more than 40,000 years old. One of the most striking pieces is a 40,000-year-old engraving of an ibex deer, complete with long curled horns, at the top of a hill. There are thought to be several similar markings further along the trail.Dr Naserifard said his discoveries support the growing evidence that humans may have started to develop a common art tradition before leaving the Middle East.
ILES MARIANES - Laulau Bay Saipan - An excavation in Laulau Bay Saipan has shown that the earliest form of settlements in the Marianas dates back to 1500 B.C. According to a recent archaeological research at Unai Bapot of Laulau led by Dr. Mike Carson, carbon dating tracked the origins of items found in Laulau to over the average date around the region. Carson said his team dug seven feet into the earth, the most they can do until hitting limestone. The items they found consisted of possible ornaments and pottery. “One of the purposes of our excavation was to confirm, deny, or refine the radio carbon dating of the earliest layer. We have a number of sites in the Marianas that are about 1500 B.C. and some less than that. But with excavations we are finding things that prove to be much older,” Carson said. By comparing language with others that are somewhat simila, DNA testing of other ancient people of different ethnic backgrounds, and archaeological items found, they also found that the most probable origins of the ancient Chamorro are from islands of Southeast Asia. “Now that we know the date range of signs of the earliest settlements here on island, our next step is to find out more about them such as their housing and food they would eat. We are still working through some things but now that we have the right time frame, we can start narrowing down our searches based on the things were found,” Carson said. During the excavation in Laulau, Carson made sure his team avoided all forms of human remains.“We’re actually allowed to look at human remains but it’s not something I want to do at this time. I want to first learn as much from the ancient Chamorro through their archaeology. Once we have an idea of what to specifically look for, maybe we can start looking at the remains,” said Carson. The newest findings are from an excavation done this past October in conjunction with the CN
http://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/laulau-settlement-dates-back-1500-bc/
DANEMARK – 
Lolland - A local treasure hunter named Carsten Helm, along with his 10 and 12-year-old sons, discovered a trove of gold on the island of Lolland that dates back 1,500 years. Among the gold discovered was a so-called bracteate, a thin gold medallion worn as jewellery during the Germanic Iron Age. Archaeologists at Museum Lolland-Falster believe that the image on the amulet depicts Nordic god Odin. Their conclusion was based on other finds of similar bracteates that include a rune inscription reading ‘The High One’, one of Odin’s nicknames. “It is a very exciting find,” museum spokeswoman Marie Brinch said. “Even though it is a previously-known type, it is a rare and exciting discovery. Throughout history there have only been three found on Lolland, the latest in 1906, and in all of Northern Europe there are only around 1,000 of them.” Helm and his sons also found an additional gold pendant, three gold pieces that were likely parts of a necklace, a gold ring and assorted pieces of silver.
http://www.thelocal.dk/20161209/rare-1500-year-old-odin-amulet-found-in-denmark
EGYPTE – 
Kom El-Hettan - Egyptian archaeologists excavating the Mortuary Temple of King Amenhotep III in Luxor have unearthed a number of statues of the goddess Sekhmet, daughter of the ancient Egyptian sun god Re. The project director said her team found the Sekhmet pieces in very good condition, buried in the temple's hypostyle hall—a roofed structure supported by columns. Several other statues of the goddess have been found previously on the same site. According to Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet was charged with defending her father Re against enemies.The many statues of the goddess in the temple of Amenhotep III would also have been intended to protect the ruler from evil and disease, Afifi told Ahram Online.
CHINE – 
Sichuan - An ancient tomb was found accidentally by villagers in southwest China’s Sichuan . Villagers in Lu County were surprised when they saw numerous carved gravestones while digging their backyard. More than two hundred counts of carved gravestones were uncovered in the ancient grave site, of which the heaviest piece weighed over eight hundred pounds. The site might have been robbed to some extent, but archaeologists were able to identify its era as dated back to the Song Dynasty based on contents carved on gravestones. “The grave is well-kept and has a Song wooden architecture style. The grave gate, warriors and floral decorations are real reflections of Song people’s life style. The two sides of the grave are identical, showing that tomb might have been built for a couple.” The identification of grave occupants is difficult given to the fact that the site has been robbed.
