23 AVRIL 2012 NEWS : Artzenheim - Pompeii - Katas Raj - Scarborough - Sozopol - Gabala - Blood Run - Yinshan - Tébessa - Xi'an -
INSTITUT SUPERIEUR D'ANTHROPOLOGIE
INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ONLINE COURSES / COURS A DISTANCE
INSCRIPTION 2012 / Session III : Juillet 2012
REGISTRATION 2012 / Term III : July 2012
FRANCE – 
Artzenheim - Le service régional de l’archéologie a porté plainte pour destruction de vestiges contre la mairie d’Artzenheim, qui avait permis la construction d’une route avant qu’il rende ses conclusions. Une nécropole mérovingienne des VII e et VIII e siècles a en effet été découverte sur le site où ont lieu actuellement des fouilles : « Ces fouilles s’interrompront donc brusquement à l’emplacement présumé des sépultures des personnes les plus riches ou les plus reconnues, d’après les traces de leur disposition en enclos funéraire, expose Hélène Barrand Emam, l’archéologue responsable du chantier. On peut d’ailleurs supposer qu’il y avait d’autres tombes sous le lotissement voisin construit voilà plus de 15 ans, mais les fouilles préventives n’étaient alors pas systématiques. Ce site ne semble pas exceptionnel d’après le premier mois de recherches, mais il présente divers intérêts : par exemple, nous avons découvert des bris de vase au pied de certaines tombes, un rite dont on a peu de traces. » Le maire fait amende honorable, tout en estimant qu’il y a eu « incompréhension »
http://www.lalsace.fr/haut-rhin/2012/04/21/plainte-pour-une-route-sur-un-site-merovingien
ITALIE – 
Pompeii - The Special Archaeological Superintendent for Naples and Pompeii confirmed the collapse of the red-frescoed wall next to an unidentified villa in an area already closed to the public. The collapse of the wall is particularly embarrassing for the government as it follows several other incidents at the world heritage site in the past two year .
INDE – 
Katas Raj - The cement factory near Katas Temples Complex is posing a threat to the pond. Sources told Dawn that the administration of the factory had pledged that it would arrange water for the factory from the Jhelum River but later it installed many tubewells near the temples. According to the Hindu mythology, the holy pond came into existence as Lord Shiva wept over the demise of his beloved wife Sati. Archaeological department of Punjab has also closed its eyes to the pond while the district administration is of the view that it has nothing to do with the affairs of the temple as it is the responsibility of the archaeology department and Evacuee Trust Property Board
http://dawn.com/2012/04/22/holy-pond-at-katas-raj-drying-up/
TOBAGO – 
Scarborough Harbour - Dutch ships that have slept on the seabed of the Scarborough Harbour for more than four centuries will soon be brought to the surface, now that the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has given the green light to a project by the University of Connecticut and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology of the United States. “Now the real work must begin,” says Dr Kroum Batchvarov, assistant professor of maritime archaeology at the University of Connecticut, who will lead the project in Tobago. His team is expected to begin preliminary work in June. Batchvarov’s interest in Tobago is simply because of the wrecks themselves. He has already secured the location of three Dutch wrecks from 17th-century battles in the Scarborough harbour area, but believes that there are more.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-04-22/what-lies-beneath-tobago-waters
BULGARIE – 
Sozopol - Archaeologists in Bulgaria’s Black Sea coastal town of Sozopol have found an ancient Greek vase depicting an erotic group sex scene, according to Bozhidar Dimitrov, director of the National History Museum in Sofia. The painted vase was found during excavations which started in October 2011 at the fortified wall of Sozopol and St Nicholas the Wonderworker Church in the old town, news agency Focus quoted Dimitrov as saying. The find was made in the lowest layers, remnants of Sozopol’s history at the end of the seventh and the middle of the sixth centuries BCE. "There is a strong erotic scene on the vase, which unfortunately was discovered in several fragments. There are several naked young boys and girls, having sex in some unconventional way. Such a scene is found for the first time on the territory of our country," Dimitrov was quoted saying. According to a preliminary analysis of the style, the painting was made by one of the prominent artists in Apollonia – the Artist of the Running Satyr. The painting is comprised of seven figures; the scene is erotic, with good style, expressive and very "spicy", Nedev was quoted as saying. He said that the find would widen the knowledge of the region, its trade contacts, and the aesthetic and artistic criteria of ancient Hellenes and Thracians who used to live in this region.
AZERBAIDJAN – 
Gabala - Archaeological excavations will begin in an ancient settlement found in Gabala this week, head of the Sheki-Gah Oguz expedition of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Nasib Mukhtarov said. He said the excavation will begin under the leadership of the deputy director of the institute, Najaf Museyibli. Mukhtar also did not rule out the possibility of foreign experts joining to the excavations. An ancient settlement was discovered in Gabala during the construction of the international airport. The ancient settlement of Galaeri-Dash refers to the last period of the Eneolithic. It was laid by representatives of the Leylatepe culture early in the first half of the fourth century BC. People in this settlement lived up to the eighth century AD. Later the first Muslims turned this place into a cemetery. Mukhtarov noted that the ancient settlement plays a crucial role in the study of the Eneolithic period in Azerbaijan. Until now it was believed that the Leylatepe culture spread from Mesopotamia to the north. Detection of the Lelatepe culture reaffirms Azerbaijan's participation in the formation of the Kura-Araz culture of the Bronze Age.
http://en.trend.az/news/society/2017797.html
USA – Blood Run - The picturesque acreage along the Big Sioux River was used by thousands of Oneota Indians into the early 1700s, and its diverse landscape boasts a large oak forest, rolling hills, flood plains and riverside bluffs. The site also has a story to tell, holding historically rich burial mounds, refuse pits and artifacts. The Oneota culture wasn’t a single tribe but conglomerate of groups with similar characteristics taking back to 1200 or earlier, said Rich Fishel, cultural resource archaeologist with the Illinois State Archaeological Survey at the University of Illinois. The Oneota grew corn and other staples, hunted bison, built circular lodges and stored perishable food underground in bell-shaped storage pits lined with grass and covered with logs or bison hides. Another common trait among the Oneota is their pottery, which features specific decorative patterns and often depict raptors such as eagles and hawks. Much of the Oneota’s history, such as where they originated, remains a mystery.
http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/64790/group/homepage/
CHINE - Yinshan
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-04/22/content_15109659.htm
ALGERIE – Tébessa - Un puits remontant à l’époque byzantine vient d’être découvert au chef-lieu de la wilaya de Tébessa, a-t-on appris auprès de la Direction de wilaya de la Culture. Le puits construit en pierre de taille présente un diamètre de 1,7 m et une profondeur de 15 m. Il a été mis au jour de manière fortuite par une entreprise locale effectuant des travaux de canalisation d’une conduite d’eau potable dans la ville, a précisé la même source. L’ouvrage "fait sans doute partie des infrastructures hydrauliques que les byzantins avaient édifiées dans cette région où une rivière souterraine d’eau potable a déjà été découverte en 2010 dans la localité d’Oum Ali, à 40 km au sud de Tébessa, dont l’eau était acheminée gravitairement au moyens de canalisations construites également en briques", a-t-on rappelé. Tébessa recèle un potentiel archéologique formé de prés de 500 vestiges et monuments historiques datant de l’ère punique jusqu’à la civilisation musulmane, en passant par les périodes romaine, vandale et byzantine.
CHINE – Xi’an - A tomb believed to have belonged to a noble official 2,000 years ago has been unearthed in northwest China's Shaanxi province. The tomb dating back to the late Western Han Dynasty (202 BC - 9 AD) was discovered at the construction site of an underground parking lot in the provincial capital Xi'an in March, said a researcher with the provincial cultural relics bureau. The brick tomb was equipped with a stone coffin made of 20-cm-thick stone boards. Such a style was rare in Xi'an, which served as China's capital during the Qin (221-206 BC) and Han (202 BC - 220 AD) dynasties, said the researcher. The large-sized tomb, measuring eight meters long and five meters wide, indicated that the owner of the tomb was a high-ranking noble official during the period. Although the tomb was robbed, archaeologists were able to find ceramic pots, jars, scoops and bronze rings in the tomb, providing more information for the research into the Western Han period.