17 JUILLET 2018: Bru na Boinne - Iran - Slatina - Tankerton - Orkney -
INSTITUT SUPERIEUR D'ANTHROPOLOGIE
INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ONLINE COURSES / COURS A DISTANCE
SUMMER TERM : JULY 2018
REGISTER NOW
IRLANDE – 
Bru na Boinne - Archaeologists in Ireland have uncovered a 5,500-year-old megalithic passage tomb which has been dubbed the “find of a lifetime”. The excavation uncovered the new find in the Bru na Boinne – Boyne Valley Tombs – World Heritage Site.To date, two burial chambers have been discovered within the western part of the main passage tomb, over which a large stone cairn – 40 metres in diameter – was raised. The six kerbstones that have been identified so far would have formed part of a ring of stones that followed the cairn perimeter. One kerbstone is heavily decorated with neolithic carvings and represents one of the most impressive discoveries of megalithic art in Ireland for decades. During the project, a further two possible satellite tombs were also found.
http://www.itv.com/news/2018-07-16/archaeologists-uncover-find-of-a-lifetime-tomb/
IRAN – 
- Paleogenetic studies show that the Iranian Plateau is one of the 3 centers of goat domestication in South West Asia from 11000 years ago.The results of this study were recently published in the scientific journal Science. According to Dr. Mashkour the research run on the Iranian Plateau zooarchaeological material, originates from ten archaeological sites . Archaeological goat bones cover a long period from the Neolithic to medieval periods (11000 to 1000 years ago) and were recovered from various localities in the Zagros and in the North East of Iran. She said the results demonstrate that several strains of wild prehistoric goats have been domesticated during a complex process involving three distinct regions including the Iranian Plateau, as an important center. Genomic data were produced for 83 prehistoric goats from the Near and Middle East who lived between the end of the Paleolithic and the end the Middle Ages and show a complex process of domestication from 11000 years ago. She insisted that during the Early Neolithic, there were at least three domesticated lineages of different origins (southern Levant / eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia, and the Iranian Plateau) that gave birth to domestic lineages. However, she added the structured picture collapsed after the Neolithic and the lineage A became dominant in South West Asia. These results for the early Neolithic period show the transmission of knowledge, know-how and technics between human communities in this part of the world and refute human migrations in the initial stages of domestication, as it was previously thought.
BULGARIE – 
Slatina - In the Slatina Neolithic settlement we found 3 parallel ditches characteristic of the earliest settlements in the Balkans, said Professor Vasil Nikolov, who heads the archaeological research of the early Neolithic site, Focus News Agency reports. According to Professor Nikolov, after the discovery of the oldest house in Europe, the research on the site has continued and information has been gathered about the construction and the people who lived there. What was interesting this year was the discovery of the three ditches, said the professor. According to him, they are older than the houses, perhaps 50 or 100 years older, but that is yet to be proved by radiocarbon dating. Prof. Nikolov said generally ditches were used for defensive purposes, but these are shallow. “These ditches surround the settlement. However, what amazed us were the wooden walls in two of the ditches, which could be used to jump over easily and get inside. These walls are not defensive, it is another type of construction. For now, we can’t say much but it is for sure the first time we see something like that in Southeastern Europe,” Prof. Nikolov said, adding that a part of the settlement has not been excavated yet. “To me, the most amazing part is the way of thinking of the people who lived here, they had innovation tactics and skills,” he said.
ROYAUME UNI – 
Tankerton Beach - A 400-year-old shipwreck hailed as a “marvellous” historical find is to be excavated and preserved on the Kent beach where it was discovered. Archaeologists will work at Tankerton Beach, near Whitstable, this week to uncover the remains of the ship, whose exposed timber measures around 12 metres long. The vessel, whose identity is not yet known, will then be examined by experts who believe that its contents may offer precious insight into life and trade in Tudor England.“The hull's construction suggests it is a late 16th or early 17th century single-masted merchant ship of around 100 to 200 tonnes”, the BBC reports. Examination of an oak plank concluded that the wood came from “woodland in southern Britain and was felled in 1531”, Sky News reports, while other samples “were tentatively dated to the 16th century”. As for its cargo, experts believe that the boat could have been transporting a substance called copperas, also known as green vitriol, a compound used to make ink and dye. The Whitstable area was home to several copperas works during the 16th century, the i newspaper reports.
http://www.theweek.co.uk/95070/tudor-shipwreck-to-be-excavated-on-kent-beach
ROYAUME UNI – 
Orkney - A 2,000-year-old wooden bowl has been found in a chamber accessed with a series of stone-cut steps beneath Cairns Broch, a round tower at an Iron-Age village site on South Ronaldsay, one of Scotland’s Orkney Islands. Researchers led by Martin Carruthers of the University of the Highlands and Islands think the bowl may have been placed there before the broch was sealed and abandoned. “In appearance, the bowl is similar in shape to certain of the pottery vessels of the period,” Carruthers said. The bowl’s round base suggests it may have been passed from person to person, similar to the way a traditional alcoholic drink is passed in a wooden vessel at weddings in Orkney today. The excavation of the chamber also uncovered what could be woven plant fibers, and two other wooden objects that look like pegs or stakes.