15 MARS 2018: Utrecht - Zhoukou - Périgueux - Pavlikeni - Montauban - Hasuda - St Germain en Laye -
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PAYS–BAS – Utrecht - The history of Utrecht begins at least 8,000 years earlier than was previously thought, local broadcaster RTV Utrecht reported this week. The discovery was made when archaeologists were digging at the site of the Prinses Máxima Centrum. The dig yielded traces of human habitation and objects from the early Stone Age, with some indications that Utrecht started as far back as 11,000 AD. ‘There have been prehistoric finds in Leidsche Rijn and Hoograven, particularly from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. But this discovery means the history of Utrecht started 8,000 years earlier than the history books tell us,’ Utrecht alderman Kees Geldof told the broadcaster. Not only were older indications of a human presence found at the site but the dig also showed evidence that the site had been inhabited without interruption throughout the Stone Age. The early Utrechtenaren ‘dug holes and used wooden poles which when rotted away left black marks which can still be seen,’ archaeologist Linda Dielemans told the broadcaster. But Dielemans and her colleagues also found a number of objects, which will be officially unveiled on Wednesday, such as shards from the Bronze Age and the Neolithic, flint from the Mesolithic used by hunter-gatherers as well as wooden objects from the river, including a little statuette-like object with a face.
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2018/03/utrechts-history-goes-back-11000-years-archaeologists-say/
CHINE – Zhoukou - Archaeologists have found more than 500 artifacts in a tomb complex in Zhoukou, a city in central China's Henan Province, local authorities said Tuesday. The artifacts include pottery, bronze, iron, silver and stone items dating back thousands of years, according to Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology. "One copper stamp is extremely valuable," said Zhu Shuzheng, a researcher with the institute and leader of the archaeology team. Based on characters on both sides, the stamp was proved to have belonged to a government official in charge of rural civic-mindedness and folk customs in Yinyang Township. "It is a reference to the official ranks and social culture in rural communities during the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-220 A.D.)," he said. The discovery of three spade-shaped coins and 14 pottery figurines is also important for studies on money and culture. The complex consists of 120 tombs. Among them, 105 are believed to date back to the Han Dynasty, four from Song Dynasty (960-1276) and 11 from Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1093240.shtml
FRANCE – 
Périgueux - Des sépultures, des céramiques... Voilà ce qu'ont découvert les archéologues. En ce moment, ils fouillent le sol de l'actuel centre culturel de la Visitation, rue Littré à Périgueux. "Au XIIIème, un couvent s'est installé ici, le couvent des Cordeliers, explique l'archéologue Peggy Poulain. Cette spécialiste du Moyen-Âge étudie les murs et les sépultures retrouvés sur le site de l'ancien monastère de la Visitation. Objectif : en savoir un peu plus sur la vie dans l'abbaye. "Les murs que l'on a découverts correspondent au cloître, raconte-t-elle. Et les sépultures inhumées ici sont bien représentatives de la population périgourdine de l'époque".
BULGARIE – 
Pavlikeni - A set of five Ancient Roman mirrors, or, rather, mirror frames, have been discovered in a square building in the ever more intriguing Ancient Roman villa estate which was also a ceramics production center, near the town of Pavlikeni. The discovery has been made during the 2017 archaeological excavations of the ruins of an Ancient Roman ceramics factory and villa estate led by archaeologist Kalin Chakarov. The Ancient Roman ceramics production center near Bulgaria’s Pavlikeni has an area of 139 decares (app. 34.3 acres). It was part of the villa estate of a Roman military veteran, and is dated to the end of the 1st century AD – the beginning of the 2nd century AD. It was destroyed in 170 AD by the Costoboci, then rebuilt, and ultimately abandoned for good after 235 AD, possibly because of the barbarian invasion by the Goths and Carpi in 238-239 AD. The five Ancient Roman frames of mirrors are made of lead. They and the other artifacts discovered during the 2017 digs are dated to the last decades of the 2nd century AD and the first decades of the 3rd century AD. Three of the ancient mirrors are the same size and have the same decoration consisting of a stylized image of a krater (large wine vessel), with leaved vines coming out of it. Each of the Ancient Roman lead mirror frames had one round mirror glass in its middle. Four of the five mirrors were discovered together at the end of the archaeological excavations. Three of the mirrors have one and the same inscription in Ancient Greek, originally read as “ТYXH KAΛH”, translated as a good fate wish for their owner. Subsequently, however, the researchers have read the inscriptions differently. “Some of the mirrors have inscriptions, reading, ΨΥΧΗ ΚΑΛΗ, not ТΥΧΗ ΚΑΛΗ, as I originally thought. That means a “good soul". Mirrors are generally discovered in shrines," lead archaeologist Chakarov has told Archaeology inBulgaria.com. The discovery of the lead mirror frames has added a new hypothesis about the function of the building where they have been found, namely, that it might have been a temple of some kind. The initial hypothesis, which is still being considered, is that it was a residential building. “The find consisting of lead mirror frames points towards the possibility that the building in question might have been a temple. The earlier hypothesis that it was a residential venue still stands, though. A final hypothesis is yet to be decided upon after all discovered material has been processed," Chakarov explains.
FRANCE – Montauban - Depuis lundi, les archéologues de l'Inrap fouillent le carreau de la place Nationale où des travaux de restauration doivent être entrepris dans les prochains mois. Découvertes datant du Moyen-Âge et de la Renaissance sont au programme. Les chercheurs de l'Inrap ont fait apparaître ce qui pourrait bien être les éléments des fondations d'une ancienne halle. Un édifice construit par les consuls qui avaient fondé la ville, en 1144, à partir de cette place dédiée principalement aux activités commerciales.
JAPON – 
Hasuda - Un grand trésor de l'époque médiévale des Royaumes Combattants (seconde moitié du XV — XVI siècle) a été découvert dans la préfecture de Saitama, au Japon, lors des fouilles dans la ville de Hasuda. Dans un pichet presque intact, d'une hauteur de 70 centimètres, il y avait 260.000 pièces de cuivre. Au moment de sa mise en terre, les pièces étaient probablement reliées par une corde, qui traversait un trou caractéristique au milieu de chacune d'entre elles. Les archéologues pensent que la mise en terre a été faite après le XVe siècle, afin de sauver ces biens lors de cette période troublée.
https://fr.sputniknews.com/societe/201803141035490871-japon-tresor-decouverte/
FRANCE – St Germain en Laye - Les sous-sols de la Cour Larcher n’auront bientôt plus de secrets pour les archéologues. Ce mardi, Bruno Wirtz et Geoffroy Etaix, les deux associés-fondateurs de Tellus Environnement, une start-up bretonne de géoprospection créée en 2012, ont en effet quadrillé le site à l’aide leur radar pour réaliser l’équivalent d’une « échographie » complète du sous-sol où devraient reposer les vestiges du couvent des Récollets, bâti au XIIIe siècle. Une fois tous les relevés et les différentes données informatiques croisées par le biais d’algorithmes dont les deux hommes ont le secret, cette étude permettra de visualiser en 3 D et en haute définition le bâti restant, les conduites et les éventuels vides présents sous l’actuelle place, dont les travaux de réaménagement ont commencé à l’automne dernier.
