23 AVRIL 2013 NEWS: Burrough Hill - Niort - St Denis de la Réunion - Athènes - Bath -
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ROYAUME UNI - Burrough Hill - Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have uncovered one of the biggest groups of Iron Age metal artefacts to be found in the region- in addition to finding dice and gaming pieces. A dig at a prehistoric monument, an Iron Age hillfort at Burrough Hill, near Melton Mowbray, has given archaeologists a remarkable insight into the people who lived there over 2000 years ago. About 100 pieces, including iron spearheads, knives, brooches and a reaping hook, as well as decorative bronze fittings from buckets and trim from an Iron Age shield, have been found. Project Director John Thomas said: “To date the three excavation seasons have produced a wide array of finds that have transformed our understanding of how the hillfort was used, the length of occupation and the contacts that its occupants had with other regions. The last excavations focussed on a series of large storage pits that had become filled in with domestic refuse and produced a significant collection of objects including one of the largest groups of Iron Age metalwork from the East Midlands. “All of the artefacts provide a remarkable insight into the lives of people who lived at Burrough Hill during the Iron Age. Further finds shed light on their social lives; a bone dice and gaming pieces were discovered alongside a polished bone flute and beautifully decorated blue glass bead from a necklace. These finds contrast sharply with artefacts found on other contemporary sites such as small farmsteads, suggesting differences in status and access to a wider range of material culture.
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=130474&CultureCode=en
FRANCE – Niort - Les archéologues ont réussi à faire parler les pierres tombales mises au jour lors des travaux du centre-ville, au terme d’une véritable enquête policière. Stupéfaction, cet après-midi du 17 mai 2011 : rue Victor-Hugo, les dents des pelleteuses mécaniques, lors des travaux de refonte du centre-ville, mordent dans un couvercle de sarcophage. Une pierre tombale, puis deux… puis six, des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle. Deux autres sont découvertes quatre mois plus tard. Les archéologues lancent leur enquête. Et c'est le résultat de ce long travail d'investigation que Céline Trézéguet et Claudine Allag, ont livré cette semaine lors d'une conférence. On trouve là un fabriquant de voile – le port de Niort procurait alors beaucoup d'emplois, les navires de haute mer s'arrêtant à Marans et des gabares prenant le relais – des gens travaillant dans le textile ou la chamoiserie, une famille de petite noblesse d'origine protestante, tous vivant sur une colline Saint-André qu'il faut imaginer grouillante de monde, rappelle Claudine Allag : « Beaucoup de gens travaillaient devant leur porte, dans la promiscuité et toute une vie de quartier intense. » Les Niortais d'alors sont bien moins conformistes qu'on le croirait. Ainsi, ce jeune homme de 24 ans qui se marie avec une femme de onze plus âgée. Réprobation de la famille. Cette femme cougar avant l'heure, aura un petit-neveu, le fameux Thomas-Jean Main, à l'origine de la révolution industrielle qui porta la chamoiserie niortaise à son âge d'or : « Une belle revanche sur le mépris dont la famille de Marie Main a été l'objet au départ », note Claudine Allag. Autre idée battue en brèche : malgré une espérance de vie réduite, on comptait tout de même des centenaires sur la colline Saint-André. On a même retrouvé la trace d'un homme remarié à 99 ans et mort dix-huit mois plus tard.
REUNION – 
Saint Denis - La signature par le préfet en août de l’année dernière de l’arrêté autorisant une opération d’archéologie préventive au cœur de Saint-Denis devrait permettre à l’ancienne prison de la rue Juliette Dodu de livrer ses secrets. L’objectif est de retrouver des éléments d’origine de ce qui fût l’un des plus anciens bâtiments de la ville avec une construction remontant à 1718.
GRECE – 
Athènes - It was also knwon as the mosque of Staropazaro, the Wheat Bazaar, as it was in the midst of the shops selling grains. Its Turkish name connected it with Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror’s visit to Athens in 1458, a fact which has misled researchers to date the mosque to that period. The Fethiye Mosque (“Mosque of the Conqueror”) in Monastiraki will be restored, as the Central Archaeological Council has given the green light to the study submitted. The aim is to enhance the monument, which is considered one of the most significant of the Ottoman era, and to open its doors to the public, most probably as an exhibition space or a cultural events venue. The mosque, which for many decades has been used as a storage room for antiquities, was built in the years 1668-1670 on the ruins of a middle Byzantine Christian basilica of the 8th or 9th century, which was turned into a Muslim sanctuary. Researchers believe that the name Fethiye, which was given in honor of the Sultan, was related to this older sanctuary, remains of which are preserved (namely remains of the mihrab). It is considered the oldest representative example of “quatrefoil” (type of decorative framework consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter), because the roof is divided into four tetra-spheres and because of the support system of the central dome. The quatrefoil type was probably modeled after the church of Agia Sofia, and can be seen in great temples in Istanbul (like the Blue Camii and the Yeni Camii), in the Balkans and even in Cairo. The study focuses on problems of the exterior and the interior of the mosque, as the restoration of the roof, the crevices in the walls, the replacement of the cement floor with a stone floor (after a small scale excavation in the foundations is conducted, as researchers believe they will find remains of the older sanctuary), the conservation of the wall paintings.
http://www.archaiologia.gr/en/blog/2013/04/22/the-fethiye-mosque-will-be-restored/
ROYAUME UNI – Bath - Engineers have uncovered part of what could be a Roman wall while carrying out emergency sewer repairs in Bath city centre. Wessex Water was carrying out work to repair a sewer in Burton Street last week when a large Bath stone block was discovered, nearly three feet below the pavement. Further investigations by the Bath-based company and archaeologists from specialist firm Context One revealed that the block was part of a stone wall which dates back to the fourth century. The wall, which was built as a defensive structure, consists of five blocks of Bath stone and is thought to form part of the buttress of the original city wall.