17 JANVIER 2021 NEWS
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EGYPTE – 
Saqqara - Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Saturday a new batch of major discoveries in the Saqqara Necropolis archaeological site. The Saqqara Necropolis is located next to the Pyramid of King Teti, the first king of the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The new discoveries “will rewrite the history of this region, especially during the 18th and 19th dynasties of the New Kingdom, during which King Teti was worshiped, and the citizens at that time were buried around his pyramid,” added the statement. The mission discovered the funerary temple of Queen Nearit, the wife of King Teti, a part of which was uncovered earlier, the statement said. The mission also discovered the layout of the temple in which the queen’s tomb was being revived. The mission also found in the temple three mud-brick warehouses attached to the temple in the southeastern side. The stores were built to store temple provisions, offerings and tools that were used in the queen’s tomb. Among the most important discoveries of the mission at the site was the unveiling of 52 burial shafts, 10-12 meters deep, containing hundreds of wooden coffins dating back to the New Kingdom. This is the first time that coffins dating back 3,000 years have been found in the Saqqara region. Painted on the surface of the anthropoid coffins are scenes of the gods that were worshiped during that period, in addition to various excerpts from the Book of the Dead that help the deceased cross to the other world. The discovery confirmed that Saqqara was not used for burial during the Late Period only, but also during the New Kingdom. The mission also succeeded in discovering a cache of anthropoid wooden coffins. Inside the shaft, 50 coffins were found in a good condition. The mission uncovered a luxurious mud-brick shrine dating back to the New Kingdom, lying 24m below the ground level without hitting the burial chamber yet. The open court of the shaft was paved with well-polished and shiny limestone slabs. This is the first time a shaft this deep was unearthed. Hawass believes the shaft was not looted and will be fully disclosed. The discovery confirms the existence of many workshops that produced these coffins, which were bought by the locals, as well as mummification workshops. Inside the shafts, the mission discovered large numbers of archaeological artefacts and statues that represent deities, such as the god Osiris and Ptah-Soker-Osiris. Among the unique discoveries, was a papyrus, 4m long and 1m wide, representing Chapter 17 from the Book of the Dead. The name of its owner (Pw-Kha-Ef) is recorded on it, the statement added. The same name was found on four ushabti statues and a wooden anthropoid coffin. Many beautiful ushabti figurines made of wood, stone, and faience dating back to the New Kingdom were also unearthed. The mission uncovered many wooden funerary masks as well as a shrine dedicated to the god Anubis (Guardian of the Cemetery), and beautiful statues of Anubis. It also discovered many games that the deceased used to play in the other world, such as the game (Senet), which is similar to the modern chess, as well as the (Twenty) game with the name of the player recorded.,Many artefacts shaped like birds, such as geese, were found as well as a magnificent bronze ax, indicating that its owner was one of the army leaders during the New Kingdom. A wonderful well-preserved limestone stelae was found in one of the excavated shafts. It belonges to a man named Kha-Ptah and his wife Mwt-em-wia. The upper part of the stelae represents the deceased and his wife in an adoration gesture in front of god Osiris, while the lower part represents the deceased sitting and behind him his wife seated on a chair. Below the chair of the wife there is one of their daughters sitting on her legs and smelling the lotus flower, and above her head is the ointment flask. In front of the man and his wife we see six of their daughters and sons, who were depicted in two registers, the upper one for seated daughters smelling the lotus flowers and above their heads are the ointment flasks, and the lower one for standing sons. One of the daughters is named Nefertary, named after the beloved wife of king Ramses II, who built her a marvellous tomb at the Valley of the Queens and a temple at Abu Simbel. One of the sons is named Kha-em-waset after one of the sons of King Ramses II, and he is known to have been a wise man. He was also known as the first Egyptologist who used to restore the antiquities of his ancestors. As for the titles of the owner of the stela, he was the overseer of the king’s military chariot, which indicates his prestigious position during the 19th Dynasty. The mission also found impressive quantities of pottery dating back to the New Kingdom, including pottery that gives us evidence about the commercial relations between Egypt and Crete, Syria, Palestine, the statement added.
CHINE – Dali - Archaeologists have uncovered a temple complex dating back to the State of Nanzhao, a slave society established during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), according to the provincial research institute of cultural relics and archaeology in southwest China's Yunnan Province. The complex situated at the Wuzhishan ruins in the city of Dali was found with 14 foundations for structures, 63 stone walls and 23 ditches. More than 40 tonnes of tiles, along with over 17,300 other relics including pottery were also unearthed, said Zhu Zhonghua, a researcher who leads the archaeological project. From January to July 2020, archaeologists conducted the excavation work on an area of 6,000 square meters at the site, 600 meters to the south of Taihe. Taihe was the first capital of the Nanzhao regime after its ethnic Bai tribal head united the six tribes of the Erhai Region. In the complex, the researchers discovered a tile inscribed with the characters "Buddha sarira enshrined by the government," which indicates that the Buddhist relics of Nanzhao's royal court are likely to have been enshrined and worshiped inside the temple. The complex is therefore believed to be a major religious site of Taihe, said the institute. "Sarira" is a general term with a number of meanings, but is generally used to describe the bodily remains after a Buddhist cremation. The remains of Buddhist masters were often said to contain crystalline beads or pearl-like objects. In the eastern part of the site, brick and tile kilns were also found with a large number of nails, gaskets, moulages and other kiln ware, while defective glazed pottery was also unearthed. The excavation helps reveal the layout characteristics of the temples built during the Nanzhao regime, the production status of the kilns and funeral customs of the royal family, according to the institute. Nanzhao reigned in what is now Yunnan Province as well as parts of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces. Taihe was then the political and cultural center of the region.
http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2021-01/17/content_77123957.htm
ETATS UNIS – 
Raleigh - Archaeologists investigating land slated for highway construction around the city of Raleigh identified more than 155 archaeological sites. The work is being led by North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) archaeologist Matt Wilkerson and his team. One of the sites is thought to have been a camp repeatedly used by hunter-gatherers over a long period. It yielded tools and pieces of a pot dated to A.D. 500, according to researcher Susan Bamann, whose firm is assisting the NCDOT team. Chemical analysis could reveal what foods were cooked in the vessel, she said. In earlier layers at the site, the team members found stone points dated to between 8000 and 6000 B.C., and a polished piece of stone with holes drilled in it that may have been worn as jewelry some 10,000 years ago. “These are all fashioned from stone, some of these from the stone source that we associated with the Uwharrie Mountains,” Bamann said. These mountains are located about 100 miles to the west of the site, she explained.
VIDEO = https://abc11.com/nc-artifacts-triangle-expressway-complete-540-ancient-in/9625300/
CHINE – 
Beijing - An excavation in Beijing's southwest Fengtai district has uncovered archeological remains believed to date back to the Jin dynasty (1115-1234) when the region was first denoted as the "national capital." So far, the dig has exposed a 60-meter stretch of city wall ruins as well as a 66-meter-wide moat, the first Jin moat to have been discovered in Beijing, according to the Global Times. Defense structures, some bricks and chips of Ding and Jun ware porcelain, and tombs dating from the Tang (618-907) and Liao (916-1125) dynasties were also unearthed. The two-year archeological research has already unearthed 2,900 square meters of city wall ruins and will help "Figure out the basic layout structure of Zhongdu's city walls. Zhongdu, as it was then known, was founded in 1153 by the Jurchen people, predecessors of the Manchus. That change came after the Jin dynasty split with the Song, capturing the Song capital of Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng in Henan province) and imprisoned two Song emperors, marking the end of the Northern Song period (960-1127). While the Song royalists retreated to Lin'an－known as Hangzhou today－a nine-decade-long military standoff between the Jin and Southern Song (1127-1279) was just beginning. In 1153, the Jin rulers established its capital in Zhongdu, and the city grew to be a prosperous metropolis. However, prosperity only lasted for 60 years as the city was besieged by Genghis Khan's invading Mongolian army in 1213 and razed to the ground two years later. Two decades on, Genghis' grandson Kublai Khan chose the site to build the Yuan dynasty of Dadu, and thus the city has been the national capital for the better part of the last 700 years.
FRANCE - Ormersviller - Un sanctuaire gallo-romain dédié à Hercule, équivalent du demi-dieu grec Héraclès dans la mythologie romaine, a dernièrement été découvert à Ormersviller . Cette découverte archéologique est exceptionnelle dans la mesure où seuls deux autres sanctuaires de ce type avaient été jusqu’à présent retrouvés en France, l’un à Deneuvre, en Lorraine, l’autre à Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. A Ormersviller, la Rue de la Chapelle mène à une ancienne voie romaine. C’est là que des fragments d’une statue en grès rose des Vosges d’Hercule ont été mis à jour. Ce n’est d’ailleurs pas la première fois que le propriétaire en question découvre des vestiges romains. Déjà en 2012, il avait en effet dégagé un mur lors de l’aménagement d’un bassin d’eau. Il a ensuite également exhumé de nombreuses tuiles romaines avec leurs clous, mais aussi 642 pièces de monnaies romaines des troisième et quatrième siècles après Jésus-Christ, des clochettes et des ex-voto en forme de phallus. Les récentes découvertes viennent donc confirmer la présence à Ormersviller d’un lieu de culte dédié à Hercule, considéré comme un protecteur puissant et dont la massue constitue un attribut. D’ailleurs, un fragment de la massue d’Hercule a aussi été mis à jour. Celui-ci, tout comme les clochettes et les phallus laissent à penser que l’on venait faire des vœux dans ce sanctuaire. Ce dernier est en tout cas la première représentation d’Hercule retrouvée chez les Médiomatriques en milieu rural. Il confirme également la romanisation du secteur.
BELGIQUE – 
Namur - Depuis quelques jours, les archéologues creusent le sol sous la Halle al'chair, le plus vieux bâtiment en briques de Namur, actuellement en cours de rénovation. Ils tentent de comprendre comment fonctionnait une boucherie de ville il y a presque 500 ans. "La Halle al' chair, explique Marie Verbeek (AWAP), c'était d'abord un lieu de commerce, un endroit où l'on vendait de la viande. Mais c'était aussi un atelier où l'on découpait les animaux tués. Par contre, ce n'était pas un abattoir. L'abattage se faisait sans doute pas très loin, aussi au bord de la Sambre. A l'époque, la rivière était utilisée comme égout à ciel ouvert." Sous les solides arcades de la Halle, au niveau de la Sambre, les archéologues découvrent une pièce d'environ 80 mètres carré avec un sol en pente. "Sans doute pour faciliter l'écoulement des déchets vers la rivière", estime Marie Verbeek. Mais le bâtiment était plus qu'une boucherie. Juste à côté de cet atelier de découpe se trouvait la "salle du poids". Elle abritait à l'époque le poids étalon de la ville de Namur, et sans doute une balance officielle pour peser les marchandises. La viande bien sûr, mais aussi des poissons. "On sait que le lieu était aussi utilisé comme marché aux poissons de mer, arrivés par bateau."
FRANCE - 
Aulnat - La sépulture d'un enfant, datée d'il y a deux mille ans, a été découverte sur le site de l'aéroport Clermont Auvergne, à Aulnat (Puy-de-Dôme), où sont actuellement menées des fouilles archéologiques préventives. Il s'agit d'une sépulture abritant un enfant décédé vers l'âge d'un an et inhumé au début du Ier siècle. Trois semaines de travail méticuleux, rien que pour cette tombe, ont été nécessaires à l'équipe que dirige Laurence Lautier sur le terrain. Car la fosse de deux mètres de long a révélé bien des surprises. "Nous avons trouvé un mobilier très intéressant par la quantité et par la qualité", détaille la spécialiste. De nombreux clous et une plaque de fer ornementale permettent de deviner la présence d'un cercueil en bois de 80 cm dans lequel le corps reposait. Tout autour, une vingtaine de récipients, très bien conservés."Ils contenaient la part de nourriture et boissons destinées au défunt lors du banquet funéraire, pour lequel avaient également été fournies de nombreuses pièces de boucherie : un demi-cochon, trois jambons, d'autres portions de porc et deux poules décapitées." Les archéologues ont également mis au jour des vases qui pouvaient contenir des produits cosmétiques ou médicinaux, des effets personnels comme une fibule en alliage cuivreux ou encore un cerceau de fer accompagné d'une tige coudée qui font penser à un jouet. Un chiot qui portait un collier cerclé d'appliques en bronze et muni d'une clochette était inhumé aux pieds du défunt. Enfin, détail encore plus émouvant, une dent de lait perdue par un enfant plus âgé, peut-être la soeur ou le frère du défunt, reposait sur un fragment de coquillage. Cette sépulture est loin d'avoir livré tous ses secrets même si l'on peut déjà affirmer que les poteries ont été fabriquées à Lezoux, important site de production à l'époque gallo-romaine.