14 AOÛT 2017 NEWS: Guizeh - Tamil Nadu - Kaifeng - Leicester - Reineh - Tadigadapa - York - Parris Island -
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EGYPTE - 
Guizeh - Is a secret chamber in the Great Giza Pyramid about to be discovered? Archaeologists using cutting-edge technology are hard at work to identify the location of a mysterious cavity inside the iconic Egyptian structure. Last year, the team located two 'anomalies' inside the Great Pyramid – a cavity at the upper part of the entrance gate and a void behind the walls at its northern eastern side – leading to intense speculations that they could correspond to a secret forgotten chamber. Over the past year, more research has been carried out to determine the nature of these anomalies as well as their function and size.The researchers have now gathered more data at the site thanks to sophisticated techniques that include infrared thermography, 3D reconstruction and muography, which produces images by recording particles known as muons. They hope their analysis of the data will soon reveal the precise location of the chamber. Mehdi Tayoubi, president of France's HIP Institute which is involved in the investigations reportedly told AFP: "All the devices we put in place are designed to find where the cavity is located. We know there is one, but we're trying to find out where." Many Egyptologists have been wary of these efforts to map the interior of the Great Pyramid of Giza and to uncover its secrets. They are unconvinced that the supposed cavities are indeed secret chambers. Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities itself was cautious, repeating that it was too early to say that the cavity was an undiscovered room and that much more work was expected to reach a conclusion. Michael Oakey, vice-chairman of Sussex Egyptology Society told IBTimes UK that this type of research project rarely amounted to anything significant. "Techniques such as ground-penetrating radar and the technologies being used by Scan Pyramids tend to be notoriously open to interpretation and therefore misinterpretation - just look at the recent disagreements and varying results of the investigation into what might lie hidden adjacent to Tutankhamun's tomb." "It's well-known that the Great Pyramid contains various voids in addition to the easily-accessible corridors, galleries and chambers — the best example being the "relieving chambers" above the King's Chamber, an architectural device to spread the huge weight of the stone blocks above it and prevent the chamber from collapsing. It's likely that there are other voids elsewhere in the pyramid, created either accidentally when internal blocks settled or broke, or deliberately when a need was perceived to spread loads to stabilise the structure during building."
INDE – 
Tamil Nadu - Many historic temples across Tamil Nadu — in the care of the Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR&CE) department department — are now in ruins, a Unesco report has said. Unesco's findings indicate that officials of the department have instead presided over inexperienced conservation efforts that have led to the "massacre" of ancient temples and looked the other way when there have been gross violations of rules, leading to encroachment and destruction of ancient artefacts. Experts with Unesco undertook a fact-finding mission on directions of the Madras high court and discovered, among other things, that idols and sculptures at a 1,000-year-old temple were vulnerable to theft. They also found several unauthorised structures on temple premises. The findings back up a series of reports by TOI in the recent past that exposed the systematic devastation of temples in the state. "The quality of conservation work at the temples assessed during the mission varied to a large extent with some good examples, some mediocre works and some truly shocking scenes of demolition and massacre of historic temples," the report said.
CHINE - Kaifeng - A project to carry out archaeological excavation launched in 2012 in Central China has borne fruits when experts found underground six ancient cities dating from the Warring States Period, 475 B.C. - 221 B.C., Xinhuna news agency, highlighted. The cities dating back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) were found deep underground in Kaifeng, central China''s Henan Province.The project, financed by the local authorities, is called a 'City upon a City' and was carried out in Xinzheng Gate site.
ROYAUME UNI – 
Leicester - Archeological investigations are to be carried out in Leicester’s Abbey Park. The city council, which owns the park has, is commissioning a small scale dig. Officials want to find out more about life in the 12th Century abbey that stood on the park until 1538 when it was largely destroyed in the Dissolution under Henry VIII. A council spokesman said the dig was intended to find evidence of fish ponds and orchards that would have stood just outside the precincts of the abbey. In the wake of the discovery of King Richard III under a Leicester car park in 2013, there have been calls for a concerted effort to locate the remains of another prominent historical figure - Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. He is known to have been buried at the city’s abbey in 1530, but his remains have not been found. The churchman, Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor, died at the abbey while travelling to London after being accused of treason when he failed to secure the annulment of the king’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/archaeologists-set-carry-out-dig-316377
ISRAEL – 
Reineh - Archaeologists at Reineh, in the Lower Galilee, said Thursday that the discovery of a Roman-era stone quarry used to make household items would shed important light on social norms in Israel during the Second Temple period. "In ancient times, most tableware, cooking pots and storage jars were made of pottery," said Dr. Yonatan Adler, a senior lecturer at Ariel University and director of the excavations on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). "In the first century of the Common Era, however, Jews throughout Judea and Galilee also used tableware and storage vessels made of soft, local chalkstone, probably for religious reasons." Adler explained that according to ancient Jewish ritual law, vessels made of pottery are easily made impure and must be broken. Stone, on the other hand, was thought to be a material which can never become ritually impure. “As a result ancient Jews began to produce some of their everyday tableware from stone. Although chalkstone vessels are well-known at many Jewish sites throughout the country, it is extremely unusual to uncover a site where such vessels where actually produced.""Until today, however, only two other similar sites have been excavated, and both of these were in the area of Jerusalem," Adler added. "Our excavations are highlighting the pivotal role of ritual purity observance not only in Jerusalem but in far-off Galilee as well."
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5001775,00.html
INDE - Tadigadapa - As inscription of Sri Krishnadeva Raya dated 1518 AD was found at Tadigadapa village located on the outskirts of Vijayawada city on Friday. Based on the information given by the villagers, members of the Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati led by its CEO Dr E Sivanagireddy rushed to the spot and dugout the inscription slab with the help of members of Andhra Arts Academy. Dr Reddy said that the inscription was issued by Rayasam Kondamarusayya, Military General of Kondapalli Kingdom as subordinate to Sri Krishna Devaraya, recording the digging of a well for drinking water in the village. The slab was found upside down which was cleaned and deciphered the script by Dr. Siva Nagireddy. The slab was left uncared on the roadside. Dr Reddy appealed the state department of archaeology and Museums to protect and preserve it for posterity.
ROYAUME UNI – 
York- He has spent 36 years searching for buried treasure - now a metal detectorist has told how he made the discovery of a lifetime in a field near York. Paul Ibbotson found a stunning medieval gold ring, engraved with flowers and set with ruby and emerald gemstones, lying six inches below the surface of the soil.The inquest was told it was thought to date back to the 15th century.
USA – 
Parris Island - A fisherman working the shallow water off of Parris Island early this year discovered two ceramic fragments carrying pieces of a story hundreds of years old. The 15-liter jars were mass-produced in Spain from 1580 until 1680, making dating this particular jar difficult. Spanish explorers used the containers to tote a variety of goods ranging from bullets to olive oil. Pinpointing the exact date of the jar is difficult because of the wide period they were produced, the archaeologist’s report said. At a University of South Carolina laboratory, archaeologists scraped away plants, chipped away barnacles and soaked the jar in mild acid for 11 weeks to remove the remaining growth. Similar jars were used by the Spanish at Santa Elena, the settlement established in 1566 on what is now Parris Island. Most of the town’s jars were of a smaller variety. But the recent find artifact falls within the range of sizes used by the Spanish explorers. “The olive jar could easily date to the occupation of Santa Elena, but there is no reason as to why it could not date to a century later,” S.C. Instutute of Archaeology and Anthropology archaeologist Heathley Johnson wrote in the June report about the artifact.
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/community/beaufort-news/article166647362.html
