13 SEPTEMBRE 2017 NEWS: Lesja - Vindolanda - Arménie - Kermah -
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NORVEGE – 
Lesja - The incredibly well-preserved Viking sword was found by a reindeer hunter on a remote mountain in Southern Norway. The Glacier Archaeology Program at Oppland County Council was recently notified about the sword, which was found in late August in the high mountains of the Lesja area. “It is a common type of Viking sword - what makes it special is the context and the preservation: It was found at 1640 m [5381 feet] above sea level,” explained Lars Pilø, an archaeologist at Oppland County Council, in an email to Fox News. “To my knowledge, a Viking sword has never been found at such a high altitude before.” Researchers accompanied hunter Einar Ambakk, who found the sword, back to the site with a metal detector, but were unable to find any other artifacts nearby. Pilø told Fox News that the sword had been lying on the mountain surface for around 1,100 years.
ROYAUME UNI – 
Vindolanda - Military brats of ancient Rome probably played soldier to pass the time. That's according to new evidence from Vindolanda, a fort found just south of Hadrian's Wall.The garrison is located in modern-day Northumberland, England, but 2,000 years ago, it would have been found at the northern edge of the Roman Empire. Archaeologists who have been excavating the cavalry barracks at the fort this summer found two wooden toy swords, one with a polished stone in its pommel. "The toy swords are evocative, and it is easy to see young boys and girls playing soldiers, mimicking their fathers and brothers," archaeologist Andrew Birley, the director of the excavations, told Live Science. Birley's team discovered the toys after lifting the stone foundations from a more recent renovation of the fort. They found damp, black, oxygen-free soil sealed underneath —good conditions for preserving artifacts.
https://www.livescience.com/60385-toy-swords-unearthed-roman-fort-vindolanda.html
ARMENIE - 
The remains of a medieval castle were discovered by archeologists in the west of Armenia. The find is well preserved. The palace whose total area covers 450 square meters, and the two-meter walls are yet to be completely dug out. Household items, plates containing records in Armenian and stones that adorned the facade were found nearby.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/246415/Archaeologists_unearth_medieval_castle_in_Armenia
TURQUIE – 
Kermah - Guided by Evliya Çelebi’s “Seyahatname” (Travel Book), an excavation team in the eastern province of Erzincan’s Kemah district has succeeded to unearth the longest water tunnels and a millennium-old Turkish neighborhood. Atatürk University history of arts department officials have been carrying out excavations in the Kemah Castle in Erzincan, which was the capital of the Mengücek beylik, for six years. The longest - 350 meters - historic water tunnels between Kemah neighborhood and Tanasur Stream and a 1,000-year-old Turkish neighborhood are among these artifacts. The head of the history of arts department, Professor Hüseyin Yurttaş, said their guide is “Travel Book,” written by Evliya Çelebi, one of the leading travelers of the 17th century who traveled the Ottoman lands for more than half a century. “In his book, Evliya Çelebi says that inside the castle are 600 houses and 11 houses of worship. Three of them have minarets and the others are like prayer rooms. The houses are adjacent to each other and most of them do not have a garden. The snow on top of the houses was thrown into the Tanasur Stream. We started working in light of this information and unearthed a nearly 1,000-year-old Turkish neighborhood,” he said. Yurttaş said excavations are continuing to uncover a bath in the castle and this year they cleaned some parts of the bath. Yurttaş said they also found 350-meter-long water tunnels extending through to the Tanasur Stream from the castle, adding that those in the castle used this water for their needs during an attack by an enemy in the past. He said those water tunnels are one of the most important features of the Kemah Castle. “Some parts of these water tunnels were built with vaults and some parts were built by caring the rocks. They are the longest tunnels in Anatolia. According to our measurements, the tunnels are nearly 350 meters in length. We also are aware of the existence of different water tunnels connected to these tunnels. It is hard to reach them because they are in ruins,” he added. One team member, academic Muhammet Lütfü Kındığılı, said they unearthed Byzantine-era ceramic pieces and a furnace but noted the most important findings this year were the ones in the bath structure.
