22 JANVIER 2018: Igbo Olokun - Adam - Mayo - Yankong - Padavigampola - Theopetra - Brora - Archontiko - Argissa - Lakhisarai -
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NIGERIA – 
Igbo Olokun - Scientists working in Nigeria say they’ve found evidence that glass was locally produced there rather than imported from Europe, the Middle East or other historically known centers of production. The scholars from Rice University, University College London and the Field Museum date the glass found at Igbo Olokun, on the northern edge of Ile-Ife in southwestern Nigeria, to between the 11th and 15th centuries A.D. That’s well before the arrival of Europeans along the coast of West Africa, they said in research to be published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. bidemi Babatunde Babalola, a Rice graduate with a PhD in anthropology and a visiting fellow at Harvard University, recovered more than 12,000 glass beads and associated debris at the site during excavations – which didn’t necessarily point to a new finding in itself. “This area has been recognized as a glass-working workshop for more than a century,” Babalola said. “The glass-encrusted containers and beads that have been uncovered there were viewed for many years as evidence that imported glass was remelted and reworked.” Yet in the past 10 years, scientists learned that the high-lime, high-alumina (HLHA) chemical composition of the glass beads at Igbo Olokun was completely different from other sources in Egypt, Asia and other glassmaking centers. So they explored the possibility that the Nigerian glass was locally produced. “The Igbo Olokun excavations have provided that evidence,” Babalola said. The presence of the HLHA glass at other sites in West Africa further suggests it was widely traded. The research team hopes their work will shed more light on the development of glass in early sub-Saharan Africa and its role in African societies. “Chemical Analysis of Glass Beads from Igbo Olokun, Ile-Ife (SW Nigeria): New Light on Raw Materials, Production and Interregional Interactions,” was co-authored by Susan McIntosh, the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Anthropology at Rice; Laure Dussubieux of the Field Museum, Chicago; and Thilo Rehren of the University College London Institute of Archaeology and director of the Science and Technology in Archaeology Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus. The research was funded by Rice’s School of Social Sciences and the Qatar Foundation.
OMAN – Adam - Three thousand arrowheads and 10 snake carvings were found in Adam in Ad Dakhiliyah governorate by Ministry of Heritage and Culture workers, in cooperation with a French mission. "Since the beginning of the work to date, 3,000 arrowheads and 10 snake models have been found in Adam which may have religious symbolism. In addition, two pottery jars and a large number of pottery fragments were found," according to an official from the ministry. The team will continue its archaeological research at the site to understand the beliefs, culture and activities of the Iron Age communities that settled in Adam. The site dates back to the first millennium B.C.
IRLANDE – 
Mayo - A boulder chamber discovered by a hill walker on a mountainside in Mayo was a mysterious ritual site where people had their skulls smashed after death. The remains of at least 10 adults, adolescents and children were placed in the cave-like structure over the course of 1,200 years in the Neolithic era, experts have revealed. Scientific analysis of adult bones found in the chamber dates them to 3,600 BC, while a bone of a child skeleton dated to 2,400 BC.
http://en.brinkwire.com/107209/ancient-remains-found-in-mayo-mountainside-ritual-chamber/
CHINE - Yankong - Archaeologists in southwest China's Guizhou Province have confirmed a tomb dating back 11,000 year contains the remains of a toddler. The tomb is located in a cave in Yankong Village, Gui'an New Area in central Guizhou. Researchers are working to determine whether it is the oldest known tomb in the province. DNA studies identified the remains contained in the tomb to be from a child under two years old, according to the provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology. The cave, which is believed to have been used by humans as early as the late Paleolithic Age, was found in March 2016. The tomb was found in July 2017. Researchers found a large number of stone implements from the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages, as well as bone objects and tools for hunting, said Zhang Xinglong, associate researcher with the institute. The findings will further research on the transformation of stone implements and the history of human settlement in central Guizhou.
http://www.ecns.cn/2018/01-20/289202.shtml
SRI LANKA - 
Padavigampola - The historically important Padavigampola dolmen (Galmessa) is believed to be one of the most significant historical monuments among a number of archaeological artifacts scattered over the Kegalle district in the Sabaragamuwa Province. The dolmen is believed to be a construction done prior to the arrival of Prince Vijaya circa 5th century BC. According to ancient chronicles, this period is known as the early Iron Age. Hunting was an important part of the daily life of the inhabitants, and they lived in the villages. Agriculture also became a major part in the life of the villagers who built small tanks to irrigate their fields. They buried their dead in stone cemeteries. The dead were interred in pits or urns and stone monuments erected over their remains. Places such as, Ibbankatuwa in Dambulla and Ranchamadama in Embilipitiya are fine examples, where the dead were cremated and their remains placed inside small stone chambers fitted with capstones as cremations and urn burials were clearly a common practice by this time. This was a culture rich enough and sophisticated enough to erect stone tombs and cairns over the graves of their chieftains. It is in this context that we should view the massive dolmen at Padavigampola where three huge slabs of stone stand upright on the ground. Over the top lies another enormous slab over two feet in height, larger than the rest. This Iron Age society has evolved into a sophisticated urban civilization a few hundred years later.
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2018/01/21/section-2/padavigampola-where-history-lies-buried
GRECE – 
Theopetra cave - Her name is Avgi, and the last time anyone saw her face was nearly 9,000 years ago. When she lived in Greece, at the end of the Mesolithic period around 7000 B.C., the region was transitioning from a society of hunter gatherers to one that began cultivating its own food. In English, Avgi translates to Dawn—a name archaeologists chose because she lived during what's considered the dawn of civilization. Little is known about how she lived and died, but now archaeologists can see the ancient woman's prominent cheekbones, heavy brow, and dimpled chin. Avgi's face was revealed by University of Athens researchers at an event at the Acropolis Museum on Friday. The reconstruction team was led by orthodontist Manolis Papagrigorakis, who noted at the museum event that while Avgi's bones appeared to belong to a 15-year-old-woman, her teeth indicated she was 18, "give or take a year," said Papagrigorakis. Her skull was unearthed in 1993 at Theopetra cave, a site in central Greece which has been occupied continuously for some 130,000 years.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/archaeology-agvi-greek-stoneage-facial-reconstruction/
ROYAUME UNI - 
Brora - The remains of an 18th Century inn that was abandoned during the Highland Clearances have been unearthed by archaeologists. Evidence of life at the old Wilkhouse inn which overlooked the sea near Brora, Sutherland, has been excavated. Dating from the 1740s, it is believed the inn was well used by passing travellers and drovers moving cattle from north Sutherland and Caithness to markets at Crieff and Falkirk. The inn, which had a large cattle stance and a pond, closed around 1819 and was left to decay after the land was bought by Sutherland Estates. Pieces of wine and beer bottles were among objects found by the excavation team with bits of fine 18th Century porcelain, buttons and a butchered sheep shin bone also discovered.
https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/18th-century-inn-abandoned-during-clearances-is-unearthed-1-4666340
GRECE - Archontiko / Argissa - Greeks are known for loving wine but it seems their ancient ancestors were not only wine makers but also fond of brewing and drinking beer, a new study suggests. Evidence found at two ancient settlement sites — Archontiko and Argissa — reveals beer was being brewed as far back as the Bronze Age. The findings were reported in a recent article by Sultana-Maria Valamoti, Associate Professor of the Department of History and Archeology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. “The new data, presented here for the first time, show strong indications that the inhabitants of prehistoric Greece, besides wine, also produced and consumed beer,” it states. The finds — including remains of ground cereal grains — date back to a time between the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 2nd century BC. In the case of Archontiko, along with rich cereal residues, a concentration of germinated cereal grains, ground cereal masses and fragments of milled cereals were found inside the remains of two houses. Their condition is put down to malting and charring, claim researchers. The practice of brewing could have reached the Aegean region and northern Greece through contacts with the eastern Mediterranean where it was widespread, it is also suggested.
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2018/01/19/thirsty-greeks-brewed-beer-in-bronze-age/
INDE - Lakhisarai - Chief minister Nitish Kumar was perhaps right when he said on November 25 last year that the Jainagar Lal Pahari in Lakhisarai district looked like a Buddhist monastery. The archaeological institutions carrying out the excavations at the site have claimed to have found evidence that the structure was, in fact, a monastery, perhaps dating back to early medieval (600-1550AD) period. The place is located around 125km east of Patna. Bihar Virasat Vikas Samiti's executive director Bijoy Kumar Chaudhary said cells of monks, boundary walls and a terracotta sculpture of Buddha have been found so far. "The excavation started from the eastern side and it has been assessed that the structure was a Buddhist monastery with monks' cells all around it with a courtyard at the centre. The bricks excavated so far have been found to be of early medieval period," Chaudhary said. Archaeologists from Visva-Bharati involved in the excavation works have also claimed the cells were used by monks for meditation purposes and they are interconnected with lime brick floors. Anil Kumar, the head of the department of archaeology at Visva-Bharati, who is guiding the excavations at Lal Pahari, said the nine cells identified so far are plastered with lime and pedestals at the entrance and passage between them. "We have found nine monk cells, a watchtower, a sanctum chamber, a terracotta figurine of Buddha and pot-ware among other artefacts so far. The excavations so far suggest it was a Buddhist monastery site dating back to early medieval to Gupta period (4th-5th century AD)," Anil said. He said the ornamented pillars similar to few found at Nalanda ruins have also been found at Lal Pahari site. Officials said the excavations at Lal Pahari would be carried out for four months in the first phase as per the licence issued by the ASI.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/excavations-indicate-buddhist-monastery-at-lakhisarai-hills/articleshow/62574547.cms
