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USA – As people all over the United States get ready to carve the turkey and remember the pilgrims who sat down for Thanksgiving in 1621 they may be surprised to learn that they are in fact celebrating the wrong date entirely. The history books tell us that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 by English pilgrims who had arrived in America on the Mayflower. But archaeologists at Florida’s Museum of Natural History have revealed that the first Thanksgiving was actually celebrated in St. Augustine, Florida over 50 years earlier in 1565. And it was not the English pilgrims in their wide-brimmed hats who celebrated the first Thanksgiving, but Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and 800 soldiers, sailors and settlers. They attended a special thanksgiving mass before sitting down together with local Native Americans for a thanksgiving feast, according to Kathleen Deagan, research curator emerita of historical archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. And far from the traditional turkey, the first Thanksgiving feast included salted pork and typical Spanish products such as red wine, olives and chickpeas. While there might not have been a cranberry in sight, the first Thanksgiving feast may have included some typical Caribbean foods that Menéndez picked up when he stopped in Puerto Rico before landing in Florida. The local Timucuan people may have also contributed to the feast, bringing "corn, fresh fish, berries or beans," according to Deagan. The first Thanksgiving feast probably took place along the banks of the Matanzas River, the site of the first Spanish colony in the United States. Menéndez de Avilés had lost half his fleet on the voyage from Spain, and one of the first things he did on reaching the "New World" was to organize a mass of thanksgiving, followed by a feast. "He invited all the local native people who were so curious about them," said Deagan.
http://www.thelocal.es/20161124/spanish-sailors-were-the-first-to-celebrate-thanksgiving
USA – Plymouth - Archaeologists claim to have found conclusive evidence pinpointing the site of the original Plymouth settlement, where the Pilgrims lived nearly 400 years ago. University of Massachusetts researchers excavated a trove of 17th century artifacts, including pottery, tins, trade beads, and musket balls at Burial Hill in Massachusetts, a historic cemetery known to be the burial site of several Pilgrims. But, they say the discovery of a calf skeleton, buried whole, confirmed that they’d pinpointed a location inside the settlement's walls. Cattle was a crucial aspect of the colony’s economy, and the researchers say the find now has ‘potential to change dramatically our understanding of early European colonization.’ The researchers from the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research claim the discovery is definite proof of the original 1620 settlement.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3965398/Where-Pilgrims-landed-1620-Archaeologists-say-bones-Constance-calf-finally-reveal-exact-spot-original-Plymouth-settlement.html
FRANCE – Appoigny - Onze mois après le début d'un des plus grands chantiers de fouilles archéologiques de France, celui des Bries à Appoigny, les travaux ont touché à leur fin le 14 octobre dernier. Les vestiges retrouvés sont nombreux, près de 2000 objets ont été retrouvés au total. Rappelons que les fouilles ont été réparties sur six secteurs du futur parc d'activité d'Appoigny qui en compte 26 en tout. Les travaux, minutieux et conduits par deux opérateurs d'archéologie préventive, Archeodunum et Paleotime ont notamment permis d'exhumer de nombreuses pièces, allant de la période Néolithique à celle Gallo Romaine. Les objets retrouvés sont tous ou presque, en bon état de conservation. Ils couvrent toutes les périodes historiques, un moyen supplémentaire pour comprendre les occupations humaines et l'organisation de la vie sur le site tout au long de l'histoire.L'objet le plus notable de ces découvertes archéologiques est une statuette étrusque, très rare, datant du 5e siècle avant JC .
https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/insolite/dans-l-yonne-les-fouilles-archeologiques-d-appoigny-ont-livre-leurs-secrets-1479751540
EGYPTE – Berenike - The remains of more than 80 pet cats dating from Roman times have been excavated at the ancient town of Berenike on the Red Sea. The site is a unique example of the burial of household pets in Roman times, according to a paper published in the journal Antiquity. Animals buried as part of religious or spiritual ritual ordinarily have artefacts buried with them, but most of the animals found at Berenike did not have any. There were some exceptions to this, with some cats found with an ostrich egg shell bead by their necks. Three cats and a vervet monkey were buried with iron collars on. "In addition to individual animal inhumations, three burials contained two animals," says study author Marta Osypińska of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. "So far, the only species found in such double burials are cats, and significantly, they always contain an adult and a juvenile." Cats were killed and mummified during this period "on an almost industrial scale", says Osypińska, but the Berenike site shows that domestic animals were also given careful burials when they died naturally.The cat graveyard is found next to the ancient military port town in an area known to archaeologists as the "Early Roman trash dump". But at the time the cats were being buried, it was a clear undulating area on the outskirts of Berenike.The site was in use from the end of the First Century CE into the first half of the Second Century CE. "In my opinion, the described features suggest that the Berenike finds should be interpreted as a cemetery of house pets rather than deposits related to sacred or magical rites," Osypińska says."The animal cemetery in Berenike appears to be a unique site. Relations between people and animals in the past are usually approached through the prism of archaeozoology, but this too often neglects the possibility of pet-keeping, which is assumed to be a modern phenomenon. The finds from Berenike seem to question this assumption," Osypińska concludes.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/2000-year-old-pet-cats-unearthed-roman-graveyard-egypt-1593214?
GRECE – Amphipolis - A second, much smaller, monument is likely to be buried at the Casta Hill tomb site in Amphipolis, Greek archaeologists believe. According to an ANA-MPE news agency report, there is the assumption that there is another tomb, west of the one discovered and buried two meters deep. A geophysical survey has been carried out by the Laboratory of Applied Geophysics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the laboratory director, Grigoris Tsokas, gave a speech called “How to detect buried antiquities: the secrets of the Casta Hill in Amphipolis” in which he claimed there is a need for further excavation on the site.“We have a three-dimensional representation and the distribution of resistance shows that there is something there. We guess there is a second monument, far smaller than the one found, that has been found at a depth of about two meters and it should be investigated,” Tsokas said. The geophysical survey showed there is a buried ravine on the northeast side, which has been covered by a manmade embankment. “The geophysical study of Casta Hill was commissioned to our workshop in 2014 and the university has funded the research in full. We have already explored the hill and processed the data, which is difficult because of the volume, and have found some additional data. An excavation permit is needed and now we are trying to find the funds to continue.” More specifically, Tsokas, said, a piece of coal was found in the foundations, indicating that the monument was built around 300 BC, give or take 30 years.
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2016/11/24/greek-archaeologist-another-monument-might-be-buried-at-amphipolis/?#sthash.MtzE5OXX.dpuf