15 JUIN 2016 NEWS: Kuukpak - Al ‘Ula - Huntington - St. Mercurius -
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CANADA – 
Kuukpak - Arctic archaeologists are fighting to learn what they can from one of the most extensive ancient sites in the North before climate change eats away centuries of history. "It's really happening in a big way," said Max Friesen, a University of Toronto archaeologist who's heading this week to a remote island near the Northwest Territories and Yukon. "We have no idea what we're missing." Friesen is in the middle of a multi-year program to try and preserve what's left of the cultural heritage of the Mackenzie Delta, an area rich in archaeological remains from before European contact. Kuukpak is one of those sites. Much more than a collection of tent rings, Kuukpak was a complex, year-round community that lasted from the 1400s up until the nineteenth century. Stretching for almost a kilometre along the shore, Kuukpak had at least 40 large houses dug into the earth and built of sod and driftwood. Unexcavated, the houses look like large holes filled with wood from the floor and collapsed roofs. They originally held a central, common area about three metres square with alcoves off three sides for individual families. An entrance tunnel came off the remaining side. Up to three families would have shared one of Kuukpak's large houses, living off abundant beluga whales, caribou and seals. Kuukpak in its prime would have been about the same size as some contemporary Arctic communities. The site, crucial to the history and culture of the Inuvialuit, is vanishing into the Beaufort Sea. While the south end of Kuukpak remains stable, the north end has eroded. Most of the 19 major archaeological sites on the Mackenzie Delta are eroding. Some - like Nuvuqaq, one of only two pre-contact bowhead whale hunting settlements - are already gone. Most of the 19 major archaeological sites on the Mackenzie Delta are eroding. Some - like Nuvuqaq, one of only two pre-contact bowhead whale hunting settlements - are already gone.
ARABIE SAOUDITE – 
Al ‘Ula - About 2,000 years ago, Al ‘Ula was once a flourishing city, bustling with life and activity. Al Ula or the ancient site of Al Hijr was the capital of the kingdom of Dedan, said an Saudi archaeologist. Dedanites were the lords of the land during the 6th and 7th century BC. Al ‘Ula was once a flourishing city, bustling with life and activity, some 2000 years ago. Concretely built mud-houses and sand structures dotted the beautiful landscape of the oasis in the Arabian desert. Trading of silk, spices, luxury items thrived through this route between the Arabian nation and those in the Gulf, as far as India. Once the hub of commerce and industry, Al ‘Ula also found mention in Islamic history as a city that the Last Prophet, Muhammad (S.A.W) had crossed in 630 AD en route to the Battle of Tabuk, fought between the Arabs and the Byzantines.
USA – 
Huntington - Broken plates. Bricks. Beer bottles. A Huntington archaeological dig turned up more curiosities than real treasures, but researchers say there’s still a lot to learn. Local historians, with the help of an archaeologist hired by town officials, dug down about a foot at the site of a Revolutionary War-era arsenal on Park Avenue just north of Woodhull Road, where the local militia stored...
TURQUIE – 
St. Mercurius - The St. Mercurius underground city in Turkey’s Cappadocia region has been opened to tourism, giving visitors a chance to see its unique church, mass graveyard and upright stones.