15 FEVRIER 2023 NEWS
INSTITUT SUPERIEUR D'ANTHROPOLOGIE
INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ONLINE COURSES / COURS A DISTANCE
DEBUT COURS : AVRIL 2023
REGISTER NOW
FRANCE – 
Toulouse - Une statue a été découverte dans une pile du Pont-Vieux. L’œuvre au sujet de laquelle les archéologues se posent des questions serait à l’effigie de Saint-Jacques et daterait du XVIe siècle. Une statue mesurant 80 cm a été découverte par des ouvriers sur le chantier de rénovation du CHU de Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), pendant la consolidation du Pont-Vieux. L’œuvre d’art a été présentée aux médias lundi 13 février 2023 à l’Hôtel-Dieu, rapporte France 3 Occitanie . Rapidement, elle a été expertisée par des archéologues qui pensent avoir identifié la statue comme étant une représentation de Saint-Jacques. Il tient aussi sa besace sur le côté gauche, un des attributs de Saint-Jacques le Majeur. Malgré de nombreux questionnements sur les raisons de l’emmurement de l’œuvre, certaines inscriptions sur le socle ont permis de dater cette dernière. « Quand on l’a enlevée et qu’on a épousseté le mortier encore accroché, on a vu la qualité du drapé, puis l’inscription sur le socle, un 1 et un 5, ce qui donne peut-être une indication sur une date du XVIe siècle » a poursuivi l’archéologue. La statue ferait référence au chemin du pèlerinage de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle.
Toulouse. Une statue qui daterait du XVIe siècle mise au jour lors de travaux sur un pont (msn.com)
POLOGNE – Śmigiel - Archaeologists from the Adam Mickiewicz University have discovered a fortified Únětice Culture settlement, located near the town of Śmigiel, in the Kościan County of Poland. The settlement was situated on an island promontory, where 4,000-years-ago there was a lake on the edge of the Samica Kościańska valley, which today is a flowering meadow. The promontory was cut off from the mainland by a deep moat or ditch, with at least two rows of wooden palisades creating a fortified enclosure. The settlement occupied an area of 3.7 acres and supported a population of up to 100 people, which the researchers suggest was a metallurgical centre and a stronghold of power in the northern reaches of the Únětice Culture. The results of the study, published in the “Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports” reveals that the settlement was discovered after a geoarchaeological analysis of the former lake which was formed when a glacier retreated around 18,000-years-ago. Based on core samples obtained by drilling, the lake started to shrink around 800 BC, eventually turning into a large bog at the turn of the era. Dr. Jakub Niebieszczański said: “During field research in the central part of the former lake, we noticed an elongated hill. At its top there were numerous molehills with various monuments, mainly broken fragments of prehistoric vessels. It was quite a surprising discovery, considering that in prehistory the settlement would have been at the centre of the lake.” The Únětice culture, named for a type-site cemetery in the village of Únětice, was a Bronze Age culture that first emerged around 2300–1600 BC. The culture is distinguished by its characteristic metal objects, including ingot torcs, flat axes, flat triangular daggers, bracelets with spiral ends, disk- and paddle-headed pins, and curl rings, which are distributed over a wide area of Central Europe and beyond.
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/02/archaeologists-find-lost-stronghold-of-unetice-culture/146211
MEXIQUE – 
El Naranjo - Archaeologists working on a site in southern Tamaulipas, Mexico, known as El Naranjo, have discovered tombs and ruins from Mesoamerica's Classic period (250 AD to 900 AD). The remains include circular stone platforms, human burials, and precious ornaments that reveal more about the burial traditions and practices of the Huastec people. The large platforms are believed to have been built to protect the eternal resting places of significant individuals, and the ornamental objects found with the remains are thought to have been created with great care and skill. This latest discovery may reveal more information about the Huastec civilization's history and development over time. The scientists unearthed tombs and ruins that date back to Mesoamerica’s spectacular Classic period (250 AD to 900 AD). This included a pair of huge circular stone platforms or bases, and more than a dozen human burials, which revealed new details about the funerary practices of the people who lived in ancient times in Tamaulipas’s Huasteca region. The tombs and ruins found at El Naranjo, which is located in a valley to the east of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains, are believed to have been left behind by the Huastec people. Data obtained from the excavation site has determined that the platforms (or foundations) and tombs date to the latter part of the Classical Era, or to 600 to 900 AD, when the Huastecs were poised to ascend to a cultural peak. In a press release issued by INAH , Esteban Avalos Beltran, the coordinator of the latest excavations, said that the members of his team were excited and delighted by what they found at El Naranjo. He revealed that the pair of large circular platforms were made from limestone and basalt masonry. The two platforms have been tagged Mound 1 and Mound 4, with the former being 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter and the latter 65 feet (20 meters) in diameter. The platforms were discovered and explored first. Their purpose was apparently to protect the eternal resting places of certain important individuals, as the archaeologists found out when they unearthed human remains inside the foundation interiors. Inside Mound 4 they unearthed the bones of three adults, who were buried together as a group. Before they were entombed, they were adorned in precisely designed shell and green quartz earrings, some of which were made in the shapes of flowers. The other tombs found in the circular foundations were all individual burials. In most instances the deceased were buried sitting up. An especially remarkable burial was found inside Mound 1. An adult male was encased inside a smaller limestone mound, indicating he must have been a person of great status. This one matched a tomb found at the Tamtoc site south of Tamaulipas in the adjacent state of San Luis Potosi, showing that this funerary practice was not just a localized phenomenon. The archaeologists used ceramics found at the site of the tombs in El Naranjo to date it to the late Classic Period. They were impressed by the skill displayed by the people who built the huge and impressive stone foundations, and also by the high level of craftsmanship exhibited by the people who carved the shell and quartz ornaments, which were clearly made with great loving care.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/huastecs-0017939
USA – Miami - Miami dig site uncovers evidence of artifacts as old as 7,000 years
VIDEO = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl2R8By25JM
PAKISTAN –
Chanhu Jo Daro - A joint team of French archaeologists and local experts have unearthed open drains and structure of houses at Chanhu Jo Daro similar in design to those found in Mohenjo Daro. They also discovered a number of beads and bangles, among various artefacts. Mohenjo Daro has stupa and other surfaced structures hence its excavation is not easy but Chanhu Jo Daro has only a mound and its excavation is going on smoothly. Fossils of animals had been found during excavation which would help identify the domesticated animals employed by the residents of the ancient town. It looks Chanhu Jo Daro had remained a centre of export as a huge number of beads found at the site were probably used in jewelry and other ornaments. Discovery of sharp instruments and cutters used for cutting beads indicated that this site had remained a central place of the export of pearls, jewelry and ornaments. The structure of houses and uncovered drains are similar to those found at Mohenjo Daro,a huge number of artefacts and bangles worn by women were also found.
PALESTINE – 
Gaza - A Roman-era sarcophagus, likely to have belonged to a prominent individual, was uncovered at the site of a 2,000-year-old Roman cemetery discovered last year in the northern Gaza Strip. So far 90 individual and mass graves have been found at the site. Ministry spokesman Tareq Al-Af said opening the sarcophagus would await the arrival of an international metal expert. He said some clay jars and other belongings found in the cemetery pointed to the Roman era, around 2,000 years ago.
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-731574
BRESIL – 
Toca dos Coqueiros - In 1997, archaeologists unearthed a skeleton buried in the fetal position at Toca dos Coqueiros, an archaeological site in Brazil's Serra da Capivara National Park. Based on the size and shape of the skull, they identified the remains as female and named the skeleton Zuzu. But that classification has remained steeped in controversy, with many researchers claiming the deceased was actually male. Now, a new facial approximation of the 9,600-year-old skull may help put this debate to rest. Last year, researchers took dozens of photos from different angles of the skull, which is on display at the Museum of Nature in Piauí, Brazil. Using photogrammetry, they digitally stitched the 57 photographs together to create a virtual 3D model of the skull "in order to reveal the face of that figure so mysterious and so important to Brazilian history," the researchers wrote in their study, published Jan. 25. The researchers created two results, both depicting a young man with a broad nose and lips. One of the approximations included hair and eyebrows based on information provided by the virtual donors, and the other featured Zuzu with closed eyes and without hair. Because the digital face was "slightly emaciated," the researchers retracted the lower jaw to match a gap that came from some missing teeth, according to the study. "Although the skull has affinity with an Asian population, among individuals of such ancestry there are a large number of structural differences, which are circumvented by closing the eyelids," the researchers wrote in the study. "The image was also rendered in grayscale (black and white) as there is no accurate information about the skin color. Therefore, such an image would be the closest to what the real face could be."
https://www.livescience.com/see-the-lifelike-face-of-zuzu-a-man-who-lived-9600-years-ago-in-brazil
CHINE – Shaanxi - From 2018 to 2022, Northwest University, Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Xianyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology and other units conducted continuous archaeological excavations at the Xitou site in Xunyi, Shaanxi, located in Zhanghong Town, Xunyi County, Xianyang City, and unearthed a large A-shaped There are 3 tombs. n this archaeological work, five sites, Nantou, Yuzuipo, Jianzi, Shangmiao, and Xiezhen, were excavated successively. Remains of Yangshao, Longshan, Pre-Zhou, Western Zhou, Han and Tang Dynasties were discovered,A total of more than 650 ash pits, 140 tombs, more than 40 relics such as pottery kilns, house sites, and ash ditches were excavated, and more than 1,000 pieces of pottery, bronze, bone, and stone tools were unearthed. Up to now, relics from prehistoric, Shang and Zhou dynasties, Han and Tang dynasties have been discovered, and the area of the city site is preliminarily estimated to be about 800,000 square meters. In addition, a large ditch cemetery with an area of more than 150,000 square meters was discovered, and nearly a thousand tombs were found, as well as a large number of medium-sized and large-scale tombs with martyrs. Among them, M90 is a large tomb facing east and west, with the tomb passage facing west. The tomb chamber is about 6.5 meters long from east to west, 5.2 meters wide from north to south, and the tomb passage is about 9 meters long and 3.3 meters wide. In the tomb passage, 38 martyrs were found arranged in an orderly manner, buried in three layers, covering the entire tomb passage. Five martyrs were found on the second-floor platform on the west side of the tomb, a total of 43.