28 AVRIL 2014 NEWS: Katalymmata ton Plakoton - Selkirk - Nantes - Pachacamac - Egypte - Huaca el Pueblo - Ha Nam -
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CHYPRE - 
Katalymmata ton Plakoton - Archaeologists in Cyprus found a marble bust of Alexander the Great - considered one of history's most successful commanders - in a second three-aisled basilica that was brought to light on the site of Katalymmata ton Plakoton, of the Akrotiri peninsula, as GreekReporter website writes. Excavations by the Cyprus Antiquities Department in the area have been in progress since 2007 when the first basilica was revealed. It is believed that the two basilicas are part of a monumental ecclesiastical complex which according to Eleni Procopiou, an area officer for the Antiquities Department, is related to St John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria, the patron saint of Limassol. The first basilica is a burial monument 36 meters in width and 29 meters in length. Procopiou stated that the second basilica is also a burial monument 20 meters in width and 47 meters in length. It is estimated that the findings date back to the second decade of the 7th century, between 616-617 A.D.
ROYAUME UNI – 
Selkirk - Further details have emerged of the nature of a "lost village" discovered during water main works on the outskirts of Selkirk. The stones, cobbles and artefacts unearthed are thought to date from between the 14th and 16th Centuries. They were found during a Scottish Water project to lay a new water main. Initial studies in late 2012 suggested the findings may have been related to an Anglo-Saxon settlement but it now appears to date from a later period. Investigations by Guard Archaeology uncovered the foundations of stone-built structures, cobbled farmyards and the foundations of walls, buildings and hearths. Artefacts included a decorated stone spindle whorl, medieval pottery and pivot stones, thought to have been used as a hinge for doors on buildings. The location, just next to the A708 on a south-west approach to the town, is also within the site of the 1645 Battle of Philiphaugh, though historical accounts of the battle make no mention of a village in the area. However, having studied the findings closely, archaeologists have concluded that there is likely to have been a small agricultural settlement located along the edge of the valley floor in the late medieval and early post-medieval periods. The view has been supported by historical research and radiocarbon dates from charcoal found in hearths.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-27187708
FRANCE – Nantes - Des sépultures des Ier et IIe siècles ont été mises au jour récemment par le service archéologique de la ville. Un diagnostic préventif réalisé après la démolition de bâtiments situés derrières l’ancien Service des Eaux, rue d’Auvours, à deux pas de la place Viarme, a réservé une belle surprise aux archéologues. Une quinzaine d’incinérations du Ier et II siècle ont été découvertes dans le cadre de cette opération préventive. Ces sépultures sont sans doute plus nombreuses préfigurant ainsi une nécropole de l’époque romaine d’ampleur. Une fouille approfondie est programmée pour l’automne sur l’ensemble du site.
PEROU – 
Pachacamac -Une équipe de chercheurs-archéologues belges, rattachée à l'Université libre de Bruxelles, vient de faire une découverte extraordinaire sur le célèbre site péruvien de Pachacamac qui avait inspiré à Hergé une aventure de Tintin, Le Temple du Soleil. Le fameux site est un complexe archéologique de 465 hectares qui est l'objet d'investigations poussées puisqu'il a été occupé au cours des siècles par les civilisations Lima, Wari, Ichma et Inca. Lors de la fouille d'un édifice, jusqu'alors inexploré, les chercheurs ont trouvé des trésors d'une grande valeur historique. Dans ce temple, érigé selon toute vraisemblance sous l'empire inca, les chercheurs ont pu admirer pour la première fois des peintures murales polychromes. Leur émerveillement n'a pas faibli lorsqu'ils ont également vu sur le sol des objets précieux qui seraient, selon les spécialistes belges, des «offrandes massives faites à l'occasion de l'abandon rituel du temple conséquence de la conquête espagnole en 1533». Le professeur Peter Eeckout pense pouvoir l'affirmer car «quelques perles en verre de style colonial étaient mêlées aux offrandes». Devant cette fantastique découverte la directrice de l'expédition - aucune peinture murale n'a été découverte depuis 1938 - la conservatrice Kusi Colonna-Preti n'a pour l'instant livré que les premières constatations d'usage: «les peintures de couleur rouge, jaune, noir, blanche, bleue et verte ont parfois été disposées en plusieurs couches». Pourquoi? L'archéologue n'a pour l'instant voulu émettre aucune hypothèse. Quant aux «offrandes précieuses» qui couvrent le sol du temple, elles proviendraient de différentes régions des Andes. Au-delà de leur beauté, l'étude de ces objets pourrait certainement faire avancer sensiblement la connaissance historique des civilisations précolombiennes. Ce travail risque d'être long car les structures du temple ont été fragilisées par les tremblements de terre qui se déclenchent régulièrement dans cette région.
EGYPTE - Looters have pillaged a number of warehouses containing ancient Egyptian artefacts, stealing and damaging some of them, archaeologists and warehouse workers said on Monday. A group of looters attacked a warehouse at the Qantara Museum near the city of Ismailia on the Suez Canal that contained 3,000 objects from the Roman and Byzantine periods, a source at the tourism police said. Many of the objects had been found in Sinai by the Israelis after they occupied the peninsula during the 1967 war with Egypt, and had only been recently returned to Egypt. A worker at the warehouse said the looters had said they were searching for gold. The worker told them there was no gold but they continued to pillage the storehouse, smashing some items and taking others. An archaeologist said warehouses near the pyramids of Saqqara and Abu Sir were also looted. "At other locations, guards and villagers were able to successfully repel gangs of looters," the archaeologist said. On Friday, looters broke into the Cairo museum, home to the world's greatest collection of Pharaonic treasures, smashing several statues and damaging two mummies, while police battled anti-government protesters on the streets. The culture, monuments, temples and pyramids of ancient Egypt have left a lasting legacy on the world and are a major draw for the country's tourism industry.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/looters-plunder-egyptian-antiquities-warehouses-377567.html?
PEROU - Huaca el Pueblo-Archaeologist Steve Bourget presented findings on campus Saturday from his work in northern Peru and said different civilizations can be connected based on the designs found in medallions and ceramics. Bourget said he and his team spent a lot of their time at Huaca el Pueblo, where they found a lot of similarities in artifacts to those of the old lord of Sipan, which were uncovered at another site.“We were blessed enough to find the tomb of a high-ranking individual and we excavated this in 2008,” Bourget said. “The tomb was extremely rich. It took us four years of restoration to restore everything in the tomb.”Inside the tomb, Bourget said his team found a collection of 11 diadems and 10 crowns, along with ceramic beads and other pottery. According to Bourget, the two individuals in the tombs could have known each other, but there is no evidence of that. Bourget said these two would have lived during the same generation, which could possibly be why they had similar styles. During this time in Peru, Bourget said he found more information and ties between Huaca el Pueblo and another site, Dos Cabezas. Bourget said the sites provided insight to the calendar systems used by the people. “During earlier time … they built their calendar right in front of the Huaca and then during the middle when things change — there was a new political administration at Dos Cabezas — this guy decided to build a bigger temple 600 meters from the site and there make a very impressive calendar.”Bourget said the civilization could have operated under a lunisolar calendar, marking the date by both the phase of the moon and the solstices. Ellie Brady, a local who attended Bourget’s lecture, said she was interested in how many calendars each civilization had and how they spread the information about the calendars to others.“All the math that’s involved with archaeology was really cool … and the digging that you have to do,” Brady said. Maline Werness-Rude, UT alum and a former student of Bourget’s, attended the lecture and said she really enjoyed hearing about the alignments between the different sites. “I think that he’s fairly convincing so far on the setup of the calendar structure … then also showing the exact parallels between the alignments I thought was really demonstrative of parallels in social structure,” Werness-Rude said.
VIET NAM – 
Ha Nam - A 900-year-old stele in Vietnam was ironically damaged when the workers hired to restore it damaged it instead. Thousand-year old engravings on an ancient stele in Ha Nam Province were severely damaged when a team of workmen were hired to hastily restore the structure so it could be officially recognized as a national treasure. Attendees at a ceremony held last Friday at the Long Doi Son Pagoda were greatly dismayed to find it had been severely marred by amateur efforts to restore it. Built in 1121 during the Ly Dynasty (1009-1225), the Sung Thien Dien Linh stele was among the additional 37 artifacts recognized as the national treasures by the nation’s Prime Minister late last year. During a ceremony held in Duy Tien District on the morning of April 18, the stele was said to have been badly damaged.