16 OCTOBRE 2017 NEWS: Jersey - Wutai - Lučivná - Pacopampa - Chongqing - Kilwa - Waikanae - Plovdiv - Ashkoft -
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ROYAUME UNI – 
Jersey - A rare Roman ring has been found by a metal detectorist in a field in Jersey, it has emerged. The copper alloy band, which contains a glass stone, was discovered by Islander Ken Rive in an agricultural field in Grouville several months ago. It is believed to be about 2,000 years old.
https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2017/10/15/2000-year-old-roman-ring-found-in-jersey-field/
CHINE - Wutai Mountain - Chinese archaeologists recently discovered some sites containing relics dating back to the Neolithic Age near Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province. Archaeologists began to excavated the sites on Wutai Mountain in June. Pits, houses and tombs have been discovered. Wang Yixue, leader of the archaeological team, said these are the first complete relics of Neolithic houses and tombs that have been found in the region. More than 200 ceramic, jade and bone artifacts, and tens of thousands of ceramic pieces have been unearthed. A complete goat skeleton, believed to be a sacrifice, was found in a pit. Discoveries at the sites will enrich knowledge of the history of Songhuajiang River and basin regions, said Duan Tianjing from Jilin University.
http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2017-10/15/content_41734152.htm
SLOVAQUIE – 
Lučivná - A jug with coins from the 17th and 18th centuries was buried on a ridge above some caves. Archaeologists in Lučivná, a village under the Tatras, dug out a small earthenware jug with 870 pieces of silver coins. “We cleaned two thirds of the coins, so far the oldest one is from 1665 and the youngest from 1733. Hungarian mintage dominates but there are also Silesian, Tyrolean, Moravian, Lower-Austrian and mintage from the Olomouc archbishopric,” said archaeologists from the Archaeological Institute of Slovak Academy of Sciences in Spišská Nová Ves, Marián Soják, as quoted by the SITA newswire. The treasure was found in the western part of the cadastre. “It was buried on a ridge above caves located about 15 metres from a group of rocks. The person knew where to bury it to be able find it, even though he or she apparently did not come back,” the archaeologist noted for SITA. He added that it is hard to say what the circumstances were that led to burying treasure.
https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20671070/hundreds-of-coins-found-near-lucivna.html
PEROU – 
Pacopampa - Researchers excavating an ancient ceremonial site in the Andes say the culture that thrived there engaged in violent, non-lethal rituals that led to lots of bloodletting. Skeletal remains from the 13th century B.C. to the sixth century B.C. all bore appalling injuries. The researchers said it is the earliest evidence of ritual violence in a society in the American continent. The site, Pacopampa, is in Peru’s northern highlands. Pacopampa was home to a complex society founded on ritual activity, according to an article published by the research team. The team's findings were published in the Sept. 28 online edition of U.S. scientific journal Plos One. The researchers uncovered the remains of 104 individuals, seven of which bore significant physical injuries, such as fractured skulls, facial and limb fractures, and a dislocated elbow joint. The evidence suggests that these individuals were repeatedly assaulted, but apparently not with sharp instruments. An examination of the pelvises suggested that the victims were all aged 35 or older. No signs of malnutrition were found. There was evidence that severe bone fractures had been healed.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201710150008.html
CHINE – 
Chongqing - Archaeologists have excavated 800- year-old city walls and gates in China’s Chongqing. More than 300 relics and evidence that a complete defence system existed at the time have been unearthed. A township in Fengjie county’s Baidi was once a very important military fortress. The archaeological dig launched at the site in February discovered the ruins. In the first six months, 20 sections of the city wall, gates, defence towers and armouries were found. These were confirmed as dating to the period between 1127 and 1912 when the Southern Song Dynasty and later the Qing Dynasty was in power. Over 300 relics, mainly iron weapons and some ceramic, copper and stone artifacts have also been unearthed, Chongqing Cultural Heritage Research Institute said.
ARABIE SAOUDITE – 
Kilwa - Saudi international missions operating in the Tabuk region under the supervision of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) have discovered a large number of tools, engravings and architectural units in three sites in the region. These discoveries date back to different civilizations beginning from the Stone Age until the Islamic Era. The specialized teams said that these sites need further study and excavation. Tabuk region was a conduit for ancient trade routes. There are rock and animal drawings at Kilwa site, northeast of Tabuk. The Kilwa site is located inside the Al-Tabik Reserve. The joint Saudi-French team found ancient artifacts and a large number of rock-and-animal drawings which date back to the Stone Age. The Kilwa historical site and the surrounding area are important archaeological sites, because these sites contain distinguished archaeological units.
NOUVELLE ZELANDE – 
Waikanae - An old Māori tool unearthed on the ninth hole fairway at Waikanae's golf course has yet to be re-united with its traditional owners. Archaeologist Andy Dodd was on site when the adze, or cutting tool, was found on the edge of a small wetland in August as the fairway was being re-aligned to accommodate the massive Ngarara subdivision being built next door. Recorded archaeological sites near the course were mainly shell middens, he said. But human remains, including long bones and a vertebrae were found there in October 2000. The earliest archaeological sites on the Kapiti Coast around Waikanae date from the fourteenth century. The area was settled by Muaūpoko until the nineteenth century. Dodd said sites in the dunes around the golf course have not been dated, but a number of dates from shell midden sites excavated during the building of nearby sections of the new Kapiti expressway had been from the sixteenth century. The small adze, fashioned from Nelson argillite, was likely a woodworking tool. It was uncovered from disturbed earth so it was impossible to accurately radiocarbon date it. "However, stone tools such as adzes were readily replaced with metal tools when these became available," Dodd said. Ministry for Culture and Heritage group manager delivery Heather Baggott said under the Protected Objects Act 1975 anybody who found taonga tūturu on public or private land had to notify the ministry or deliver it to a nearby public museum for notification. "Such objects are in the first instance Crown-owned. The ministry takes responsibility for their care and custody. One of purposes of the act is to reconnect taonga with its traditional owners," Baggott said.
/www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/97403004/Ancient-M-ori-tool-found-on-Waikanae-golf-courses-ninth-fairway
BULGARIE – 
Plovdiv - A team of archaeologists headed by Maya Martinova is beginning work on excavations of the Eastern Gate of Philippopolis site in Bulgaria’s second-largest city Plovdiv, following a Cabinet decision in August 2017 giving the municipality the right to manage for the complex for 10 years. Discovered in the 1970s, the site dates from the second century CE, and was the gate to the road from Philippopolis – as Plovdiv was then called – to Byzantium (later Constantinople and subsequently Istanbul) and the Bosphorus. The Roman road that leads to the gate is 13.2 metres wide, with pavements on both sides, each 2.6m wide. There were colonnades on both sides, of which many fragments remain, with very richly decorated Corinthian capitals. On both sides of the street there are pavements with a width of 2.60 m. The gate was initially built in the second century CE during the reign of Hadrian, after which the gate and the complex around it were completely rebuilt in the fourth century, and partially repaired in the fifth century. Later, Emperor Marcus Aurelius started building fortification facilities in the region given the danger of Marcomannic invasion. As a result, Philippopolis was encircled by a stone wall in 172. The memorial arch was left defenceless a few dozen metres outside the fortified area where the first eastern gate was built. After Philippopolis recovered from the destruction of the Goth invasion in 251, the old fortress walls were torn down and new fortification of bricks and stone was built. The new Eastern gate of Philippopolis was built over the ruins of Hadrian’s arch. The builders used the remaining stones and decorations of the old monument when constructing the new city gate. The memorial of the imperial visit from the second century became the biggest and the most important entrance of Philippopolis.
IRAN – 
Ashkoft - Head of an Iranian archaeologist team involved in discovering and preserving the ancient layers of Ashkoft region of Kermanshah province, Elham Qasidian, said the main achievement of the team has been the discovery of some stoneware known as Mousterian Zagros in Ashkoft Cave. The new discoveries reveal that Neanderthals had advanced into Eslamabad Plain in western Iran during Paleolithic era, Qasidian was quoted as saying in a Farsi report by Tasnim News Agency. According to Qasidian, the archaeological project in Ashkoft region is part of a long-term plan to discover and reconstruct the historical lifestyle in one of the most key regions of Iran Plain. The project is supported by the Iranian government as wells as Cambridge University. She referred to the rigorous studies conducted to discover and document the ancient places in Kermanshah province and added at least 265 caves and rocky shelters have been discovered in 6 towns in the west part of the province including 100 ancient places in Eslamabad. The Iranian archeologist also said one of the main findings of the team is that Eslamabad-e Gharb region is located exactly between two Paleolithic poles of the country i.e. Kermanshah Plain and Khorramabad Plain.“Eslamabad-e Gharb Plain had been used as a cultural corridor between Kermanshah and Khorramabad plains,” she noted. Qasidian went on saying archeological studies reveal that there had been extensive cultural exchanges between the two poles through Eslamabad-e Gharb Plain. She said the archeological team has also identified three historical phases in the region. “Studies show that Ashkoft Cave had been used during the middle and contemporary phases of the region as a contemporary center for hunting.”
http://ifpnews.com/exclusive/archaeologists-traces-neanderthals/
